Mercer County Schools taking precautions again after out-of-state threats
Sep. 19—princeton — Area schools were still taking precautions Wednesday with help from local law enforcement while threats from out-of-state sources continued to be traced and investigated.
Superintendent Edward Toman and Safety Coordinator Melissa Clemons issued a statement about threats that were made against local schools, particularly PikeView High School and PikeView Middle School near Princeton. More safety measures were put in place "following ongoing investigations into the unsubstantiated threats circulating on social media over the past few weeks," school officials said.
Toman and Clemons urged parents and guardians to monitor their children's social media accounts and to talk with them about the seriousness of making threats. Students were reminded that "the most severe form of disciplinary action will be taken toward those found to be making threats."
The majority of these threats have been traced to out-of-state IP addresses. Once identified, law enforcement takes the lead in investigating these incidents.
"We want to remind everyone that when these threats are shared among students, employees and families via social media instead of being reported to school officials or law enforcement, it hinders the investigation process," Toman and Clemons said in the joint statement. "As you know, social media posts often get shared far and wide, sometimes even reaching different school systems or states."
Toman and Clemons also posted a statement late Tuesday evening about threats to local schools, specifically PikeView High School and PikeView Middle School. Additional safety measures have been implemented "following ongoing investigations into the unsubstantiated threats circulating on social media over the past few weeks."
Toman said parents and guardians are being encouraged to heavily monitor their child's social media accounts and have conversations about the seriousness of their words and actions.
"Students, please remember, the most severe form of disciplinary action will be taken toward those found to be making threats," according to the Tuesday evening statement.
The unsubstantiated online school threats have been a problem now for almost two weeks in both West Virginia and neighboring Virginia.
Two students at River View High School in McDowell County were charged Tuesday with making terrorist threats. From Sept. 12 through Sept. 13, the McDowell County Sheriff's Office was told about active shooter threats made to River View High School located in Bradshaw, Sheriff James "Boomer" Muncy said.
While investigating the threats, investigators learned of two juveniles who attend River View High School, Muncy said. During this investigation, deputies found that there were no credible threats and that the juveniles had created them and posted them on social media.
The McDowell County Board of Education was made aware of the ongoing situation as well as the McDowell County Prosecutor's Office, Muncy said.
Charges were filed Tuesday against the two juveniles. The charges included threats of terrorist acts to wit: conveying false information concerning terrorist acts and committing terrorist hoaxes; felony conspiracy; and willful disruption of a governmental process. The students' names have not been released because of their juvenile status, Muncy said.
"My office, as well as the McDowell County Prosecutor's Office and the McDowell County Board of Education, will take these threats seriously and will prosecute any threat, fictitious or real," Muncy said. "We encourage families to speak with their children about the dangers in spreading fear through social media."
McDowell County Schools was taking written parent excuses for any student absences that occurred when the threats were reported. This policy applies to absences from last week only from Sept. 9 to Sept. 13, said Attendance Director Aaron Lester.
In Virginia, the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office investigated an anonymous threat which was shared on Facebook and determined that the threat was not credible, Superintendent Dr. Chris Stacy of Tazewell County Schools said Sept. 11. The threat was similar to ones directed at several Virginia school systems as well as ones in West Virginia. There was an increased law enforcement presence at Tazewell County's schools and work is underway to install metal detectors at each school.
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