Threat determined not credible

Local law enforcement officials have determined that a student who made a threat on social media does not pose a threat to Jay County Junior-Senior High School.

Jay School Corporation and local law enforcement received an anonymous tip about 6 a.m. Monday about a social media post from a student that alluded to a shooting at Jay County Junior-Senior High School.

Local law enforcement was immediately dispatched to the home of the student who made the threat, Jay School Corporation superintendent Jeremy Gulley said this morning. Officers interviewed both the student and parents, and they determined that the threat was not credible nor did the student have the means to carry it out if it had been credible, he added.

“We just had a message that someone might come into the school and do harm,” said Jay County Sheriff Dwane Ford. “We investigated it, we didn’t find anything substantial to that fact.”

Jay Schools were open Monday with a heightened law enforcement presence. Ford noted for extra precaution there were four other officers — two from Portland Police Department and two from the sheriff’s office — at the high school Monday.

The school corporation informed the public about the threat, including with a post on social media.

“This morning we received a tip from our anonymous tip system reporting a threat associated with Jay County Jr-Sr High School,” the post said. “This threat originated on social media. The Jay County Sheriff’s Office located the source of this and has determined that the situation is resolved for the safe operation of the school.”

Gulley said the increased law enforcement presence will continue, though he did not give a timeline as to how long it will last.

“It will continue as a function of reassurance to parents and students, although there is no actual threat, continuing threat,” he said. “It’s a reassurance to our students that we have a safe and secure environment for them.”

Monday’s threat came at a time of heightened awareness of school shootings following a deadly mass shooting Nov. 30 at Oxford High School in Michigan. A 15-year-old killed four fellow students and wounded an additional six students and a teacher. The shooter in that case has been charged with murder, and his parents have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Gulley said this morning that such threat situations are handled with the same level of seriousness whether there has been a recent incident or not.

“We run the same approach regardless,” he said. “It will be heightened in the public concern, but as far as we behave with the school district and local police … we run the same approach every time.”

Gulley urged the community to be responsible about their use of social media, adding that despite discussion on some platforms there have been no additional threats. He asked that if there is a threat, it be reported via 911 or the school’s Say Something app rather than being shared.

“I’m very pleased that our students and community and parents are using the anonymous report system,” Gulley said. “That’s a positive.

“I think the potential negative is the misuse of social media that creates chaos and fear.”