The Bloomington Police Department responded to a threat at Bloomington High School South on Monday after a report that one student had made a gun threat.
The threat was not against the school, but against a 16-year-old in Greene County.
Another BHSS student saw a 17-year-old making threats over social media about retrieving a gun and shooting the Greene County 16-year-old.
The student who saw this reported it to BHSS faculty after the student who made the threat left school without notifying administration or his parents.
Some officers went to the school while other officers went to look for the student who made the threats. Police found him heading home and believe he was going to get the gun, BPD Capt. Steve Kellams said.
The 17-year-old’s mother said she keeps a .380-caliber pistol in their home. She turned the gun over to BPD for safekeeping.
The threat was spurred by an argument over a girlfriend, police said. The student was arrested and transported to a secure detention facility.
Kellams said the community is more sensitive to threats like this following the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day.
He also said social media changes the dynamic of threats since it’s difficult to know which posts should be taken seriously and which are innocent.
