Three San Benito County residents have been arrested this month
for making threats of violence at our public schools.
Three San Benito County residents have been arrested this month for making threats of violence at our public schools.
The three threats all referenced large-scale school shootings, and one specifically threatened a Columbine-like incident. This is unacceptable. We do not have any tolerance for threats (or even jokes) about shootings, bombings or any other type of violence at school.
On April 16, the nation was stunned by the shooting at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., the deadliest in modern history. Four days later, many Americans mourned the passing of the eighth anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. It is disturbing that just weeks after these events one adult and two students were arrested for making threats about similar incidents at our local schools.
Making a threat of violence of any kind at school is a serious matter. Fortunately, each of these incidents later proved to be a false alarm and no one was injured. Nonetheless, these incidents came with a very real cost, not just in terms of costs to the school districts and local law enforcement, but also to parents and students.
Besides frightening parents and tying up emergency officials, these incidents disrupt learning. As a community we must have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to threats of violence at school.
Our community must make sure this type of behavior is not tolerated and that every threat, no matter who makes it, is investigated promptly. We hope that our young students have the sense not to take these matters lightly. Threats of violence should be reported immediately to school officials. Unfortunately, in our society at the present time, threats of shooting at school cannot be brushed aside or written off as casual conversation.
We understand that both children and adults make mistakes and speak without forethought. But when it comes to issues like violence in schools, we can’t afford to take chances. Everyone must understand how serious the matter is.
We’re glad to see that our local law enforcement officials also take such threats seriously. Not only were those who made the threats arrested, but authorities also investigated each incident to make sure our schools were safe. Earlier this month San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill told the Free Lance: “Schools are safe havens all the time. That kind of behavior is not acceptable.” We couldn’t agree more.
Now it is up to San Benito County District Attorney Candice Hooper to make sure that those who are found guilty of making threats at school are punished accordingly. A strong message needs to be sent that criminal threats will not be tolerated in our schools.
