Rumors Following Arrest Of School Threat Suspect Keep Students Home
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KAUFMAN COUNTY (CBS11) - The threat of a mass shooting at a Kaufman County high school kept many students home Wednesday, and even though sheriff's deputies say the school was safe, parents weren't taking any chances.
Sheriff's deputies arrested a teenage student at North Forney High School after investigators say he claimed he would shoot up the school. Officials ruled out any active threat before classes began this morning, but chatter on social media left many parents unsure what to think.
Investigators felt confident any potential threat had been eliminated by the time students showed up for school this morning. Officers found the 15-year-old student arrested had no guns. The school district assured parents the situation was resolved.
"I made the decision this morning after seeing some news pieces that it seemed safe to send them, but then they started texting and saying that they had been hearing things of course," Wanda Valentino said about her granddaughters.
Valentino got worried when her granddaughter passed along rumors she was hearing in school about additional threats.
"It just freaked me out 'cause I don't like this kind of stuff, and so I was like I don't want to be here, you know just in case something does end up happening," Valentino's granddaughter Madison Hill said.
The school's principal sent an email to parents updating them on information found on social media, writing, "The Kaufman County Sheriff's Department and the Forney ISD School Resource Officers are investigating all of these rumors, but have determined that all of them are false claims and that there is no additional threat."
"I called the school before I came up here, and she said that that was a rumor, but I'd again rather be safe than sorry," Valentino said.
A spokesperson for the district confirms the day ended without incident. The sheriff's department tells us even though the teenage suspect did not have a gun, the Texas Education Code allows someone who makes a threat of a shooting to be charged with Exhibition of a Firearm. The teen remains at the juvenile detention center in Greenville.
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