Police deal with school threat

County police were a visible presence at Jay County High School due to a rumored gang gunfight that cut attendance to about half normal levels.
Jay County Sheriff Ray Newton said text messages and posts on the online social networking site Facebook said the fight would happen in the parking lot of the high school sometime before school started today.
About 50 percent of students were in attendance at JCHS this morning, a school official said, compared to a normal attendance rate of 95 percent.
Although the threat appears to have been just a rumor, police and school officials have been thoroughly investigating the threat. “We have no reason to believe anything’s going to happen,” Newton said.
Regardless, “We had to take it seriously,” Bicknell said.
Newton said he was notified of the threat Friday. “We’re trying to do what’s best for the safety of the kids, “ he said this morning in the high school parking lot. Throughout the school day, he plans to have officers in the school parking lot and one inside the school. Police began patrolling the high school grounds today about 7 a.m.
Jay County Chief Deputy Rob Bicknell said this morning that the sheriff’s office would likely have officers at the school throughout the week.
Keeping students safe is also top priority for school officials.
“You can never be too careful,” Tim Long, superintendent of Jay School Corporation Long said this morning. “We have to look into every rumor out there.”
Long said the school has a policy for such threats. School officials were notified of the possible gunfight on Friday. The school staff was notified and police were contacted, he said.
“Teachers were told to be vigilant … keep (their) ears to the ground,” Long said.
The text message, which Newton also received, tells its recipients not go to school today. Long said about 95 percent of students usually come to school on a typical day.
Bicknell said police are trying to determine the origin of the text message telling people to not come to school and that there would be a gang fight. “We’re working backwards from Friday,” he said. Police spent the weekend following leads and working with school officials.
He said there are supposedly gangs called the Goons and the White Doves in Jay County. Police were unable to determine which gangs were supposed to be in the fight this morning.[[In-content Ad]]