Parents and students across the Gallup McKinley County Schools district may have woken up to texts or social media messages warning them that there would be a shooting at their school on the morning of Sept. 23.
According to law enforcement officials, this is a part of an alleged scam that has plagued the State of New Mexico for the past week.
In an interview with the Sun, McKinley County Sheriff James Maiorano III said both his department and the Gallup Police Department sent additional officers to multiple school campuses across the district, but that there’s no credible threat at this time.
Maiorano said his department is not sure where the threats originated from, but concerned people keep sharing the reported threat on social media. There is no specific threat to any one school. Law enforcement officials don’t believe that the message originated in McKinley County.
Law enforcement officials were alerted to one such threat at Chief Manuelito Middle School on Sept. 20, but it was soon debunked as a social media reposting.
THREATS ACROSS THE STATE
According to an article posted on KOB 4’s website on Sept. 22, the threats started during the week of Sept. 16. Some schools canceled classes out of safety concerns.
Two incidents, one in Las Cruces and one at a high school in Albuquerque, ended with arrests.
Police in Las Cruces arrested three children, the youngest 11 years old, for allegedly threatening local schools online.
Meanwhile, a Volcano Vista High School student in Albuquerque remains in police custody after he reportedly brought two handguns to school.
In an interview with KOB 4, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that mass threats should be classified as a fourth-degree felony instead of misdemeanors. He also said it should be mandated that children who commit crimes with guns get booked into youth detention centers.