Austin, Texas — Following the deadly shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia last week, numerous school threats have been reported across the state of Texas, resulting in several arrests.
Austin police say they have arrested a 29-year-old man in connection with the threat to Hill Elementary School in northwest Austin. It’s unclear if the suspect is connected to similar messages, but the indictment says he was trying to make the news.
“The perpetrators have typically been obsessed with previous mass shooters and the notoriety that often comes with that huge publicity coverage, and so in these types of situations it’s important that we don’t name them and don’t give them that public recognition that these individuals seek,” said Dr. Kathy Martinez-Prather of the Texas School Safety Center.
On Thursday night, the Llano School District reported a threat against schools in Johnson City, Marble Falls, Llano and Blanco, leading to the arrest of an East Texas resident.
Hays CISD also reported the arrest of three sixth-grade students in connection with several threats. The most recent occurred Thursday night, after the social media platform Snapchat notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of a threat against McCormick Middle School.
Copycat threats often increase after school tragedies.
“You typically see what we call a contagion effect, so you’re going to see a very common increase in threats. Some are credible, some are not, but it’s important that each one of them is thoroughly investigated,” Martinez-Prather said.
Although the threats were dismissed as credible, districts ordered increased surveillance.
“All school districts in the state must make available to their campuses a school behavioral threat assessment team. The goal of this is to identify individuals who may be in the path of violence and provide them with early interventions,” she said.
For psychologist Octavio Itzú Solórzano Villalón, parents should also do their part: “Try to understand what motivated them to this type of behavior in order to be able to intervene. Sometimes groups challenge each other for certain supposed feats, right? But at other times it is also a lack of attention.”
Solórzano stressed the importance of monitoring the time children spend on the Internet and social networks.
“If you use it in the right way, it can be very, very useful. The problem is when we don’t have this support, this information on how it should be used properly,” said the expert, who added the importance of improving communication and knowing how to listen to children.
Experts, authorities and school districts are urging anyone who sees or receives such a threat to call the police immediately.
