By Jarrett Hobbs
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark – Since the school shooting in Parkland, Flordia that claimed the lives of 17, there has been an increase in threats against schools in Arkansas and the rest of the country. Hackett, Star City, Berryville, McGehhe and North Little Rock schools have all reported incidents concerning threats to school safety.
On Feb. 15, the Fayetteville police arrested a Fayetteville High School student for a threating post on social media. According to the police report, the beginning lines of the social media post read “let shoot the school up like they did in Florida.”
When the student was interviewed by the police he claimed the post was sent to a friend as a joke. When the authorities searched the student’s home they found a rifle but no ammunition.
The increase of school-related threats has been present all around the country as schools heighten security after the events in Parkland last Wednesday.
Western Heights Public Schools in Oklahoma City was closed on Feb. 16, after an absent student sent a threat to the middle school.
On the same day in Abbeville, South Carolina students were informed not to come to school after a bomb threat was posted on Snapchat. The suspect was later taken into custody and the school returned to its normal schedule.