Two students made unrelated threats against Bloomington High School North and Jackson Creek Middle School that alluded to school shootings happening Oct. 31. Both students were suspended.
Bloomington Police Department officers were posted at Bloomington schools Wednesday morning in response to the threats. The students were still on suspension as of Wednesday morning, BPD Sgt. Dana Cole said.
BPD was notified Sept. 26 when three North students reported suspicious behavior to the school principal, Cole said. The girls said a 15-year-old student told them Bloomington High School North would experience its first school shooting Oct. 31.
When his mother arrived at school that day, she said her son was a loner who is bullied at school, Cole said. The mother said she feels he is an easy target for other students and that this is a case of bullying.
The student in question denied making the statements and told police he told the girls Oct. 31 was his favorite day of the year because people dress up for Halloween and scare people.
The school told the student’s mother that he needed to be seen for a mental health evaluation before being readmitted to school. He was still suspended as of Tuesday morning.
Police were notified Oct. 30 by a student at Edgewood High School in Ellettsville, Indiana, that he heard from a student at North that the same student was making posts on social media alluding to a school shooting.
Cole said the student has pointed at other students with finger guns in the past and said things that alluded to a shooting. Cole said what the student has been doing is disturbing, but isn’t criminal.
Police were notified Tuesday night of a Jackson Creek Middle School student who posted a Snapchat of what appeared to be a rifle with the caption “Getting it ready for tomorrow… wear blue.”
Police were uncertain why the student said to wear blue.
The student told the school’s principal that his Snapchat had been hacked. The principal placed the student on suspension and notified the police, Cole said.
Cole said a detective went to speak with the student and his mother Wednesday morning, and the student admitted he posted the picture and said it was a photo of a friend’s pellet gun.
