School threats impact students, community

UPDATE 3/22/18 4:50 p.m.: Alisal High School is the latest victim of a threat of school violence.

On Wednesday, a message threatening a school shooting was found in a boys bathroom at the school. It prompted a beefed up police presence on Thursday, the day the reported attack would happen. While police don’t believe the threat is credible, they aren’t taking chances.

“We take every school threat every seriously because our main goal is to make sure our community is safe, especially for children and staff at the schools,” said Salinas Police Officer Richard Lopez.

Alisal High is the latest school to get these messages. Since the deadly massacre at a Parkland, Florida high school in February, at least six schools on the Central Coast have been targeted in threats. That includes Washington Middle School, targeted twice and Pacific Grove High School, threatened three times.

It takes a toll as police bring in as many resources as they can, while school officials spends time and effort making sure kids stay safe.

“We have to walk through the campus, we have to look through all the security cameras,” Lopez said. “So it takes a lot of officers out there present, looking through all the evidence as well as showing a presence at each school.”

The Monterey County Office of Education said parents need to talk to their children, perhaps role play, about school safety and threats.

“It’s important for parents to address with their child at their age appropriate level how important it is to show respect for everyone and when we have an issue or a problem with someone, to be able to resolve that issue in a way that is going to build relationships and move the child out of the situation that they are uncomfortable with, that might trigger them to do something threatening to someone else,” Dr. Nancy Kotowski said.

School officials say anyone caught making a threat will be prosecuted, and depending on the circumstances of the case, it could be considered a felony.

UPDATE 3/21/2018 2:40 p.m.: Alisal High School is the latest Monterey County school to be the victim of a threat.

On Wednesday, a message was left in a boys’ bathroom, threatened a shooting on Thursday. Police said they didn’t believe the threat was credible but are still beefing up their presence at the school.

Since the Parkland, FL shooting on February 14, at least six schools on the Central Coast have been targeted for threats of violence. That includes Washington Middle School in Salinas and Pacific Grove High School.

Police say responding to the threats are time-consuming but necessary to keep kids safe.

“We have to walk through the campus, we have to look through all the security cameras, so it takes a lot of officers out there, looking through all the evidence as well as showing a presence at each school,” said Salinas Police Officer Richard Lopez.

KION’s Mariana Hicks spoke to a school resource officer and school officials about the impact the threats are having on students and the community.

ORIGINAL POST: Salinas Police are investigating a threatening message left at Alisal High School.

According to police, the threat was found in the boy’s bathroom on Wednesday, March 21st.

The threat claimed there would be a school shooting on Thursday.

Salinas Police said it is similar to recent threats from different schools over the last few weeks.

There is no reason to believe it is a credible threat, but police are still taking the threat seriously.

There will be extra officers patrolling the area Thursday as well as probation officers on campus.

The Salinas Union High School District has been notifying parents about the threat.

This is the second school shooting threat Salinas Police has investigated this week.