False shooting threats cause 5 high schools to enter lockdown

CHEYENNE — More than a dozen Wyoming schools had received threats of either an active shooter or a bomb on campus as of Monday afternoon, according to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

Part of a national trend, Wyoming is not unique at this moment, and these threats appear to be “spilling over” from other states, DCI’s Ryan Cox told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Based on current information, it appears that threats have been made in other states in the past month.

Schools and local police departments are responding to threats, clearing buildings and ensuring student safety. However, Cox said DCI doesn’t expect officers to find the culprit when clearing schools, and he does believe that further investigation will be required to determine the culprit’s identity.

“Each law enforcement agency is taking appropriate actions and investigating, even though it appears to be a nationwide hoaxing event,” Cox said.

Cheyenne threats

Both South and East high schools went into lockdown Monday morning in response to shooting threats received through a third-party crisis line.

At approximately 8:05 a.m., Cheyenne Police officers were dispatched to a school shooting threat at East High School, 2800 E. Pershing Blvd. After notifying school administrators, East was placed into a lockdown for the safety of the students and staff.

Additional officers were dispatched to assist, and they began simultaneously securing and searching the interior.

Before CPD could confirm that East was secure, dispatch received another school shooting threat at 8:30 a.m. at South High from the same number.

Officers searched and secured both buildings, but no credible threat was found.

Johnson Junior High School was placed on a secure perimeter due to police activity at South across the street; security measures on both schools were later lifted.

East’s lockdown was lifted at 9:35 a.m., and South’s lockdown and Johnson’s secure perimeter were lifted just prior at 9:33 a.m.

Parents were notified by the district at each step of the process.

“LCSD1 believes that a safe and secure environment is vital to the success of our schools,” the district shared in a statement. “To ensure this, all schools within LCSD1 work closely with our law enforcement partners and employ multiple security components and systems.”

According to the statement, the district protects students and staff by having locked interior and exterior doors, cameras, alarms and a strict visitor control process. The district also uses some of the latest alerting and emergency management technology platforms that improve its ability to alert students and staff during emergencies.

“All school leaders are trained in emergency response protocols and routinely practice for emergencies by holding fire drills, shelter- in-place drills and lockdown drills, among others,” the statement read.

It’s unclear at this time where the threats may have originated.

Other Wyoming threats

In addition to the reports at East and South high schools in Cheyenne, Campbell County and Thunder Basin high schools in Gillette and Riverton High School in Riverton received similar threats Monday.

Both schools in Gillette went into a shelter-in-place, according to the Campbell County School District’s Facebook page.

“The Gillette Police Department, with support from the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, investigated the threats this morning and deemed them non-credible,” the district posted.

The shelter-in-place order was lifted by 9:30 a.m., and both schools resumed their regular operations.

The Riverton Police Department responded to Riverton High School for an anonymous call of a person seen with a rifle, according to the RPD’s Facebook page.

The school was placed on a temporary lockdown while officers searched the school, no weapon was found, and, according to the department, no evidence relating to the threat was found at any Riverton school.

Part of a trend

This is the third lockdown at East since Sept. 26, when a student reported that another student, Tyler Bathke, 18, intended to shoot up the school.

Bathke was not found to be in possession of a weapon and was arrested for making terroristic threats.

A second lockdown on Oct. 16 didn’t appear to be connected to the lockdown on Sept. 26, according to CPD public information officer Alex Farkas.

“It appears that this particular threat has become a statewide trend,” a CPD Facebook post informed the public on the day of the second lockdown. “Similar unsubstantiated calls are being made to schools across the region.”

According to Farkas, the latest false reports at South and East are a part of the same statewide trend.

According to a CPD press release, this particular threat has been made to schools across the country.

“This is something that’s happening at schools across the state,” Farkas told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “It’s very similar to the last report that we got at East High School, and so it appears that this is another statewide trend that’s just not credible. But of course, we’re going to treat every instance as if it’s the real thing.”

Out of an abundance of caution, there will be an increased police presence at both schools.

CPD is working with the FBI to try to determine who the responsible party might be. No injuries have been reported.

DCI and the FBI are working together to investigate the numerous bomb and active shooter threats, though Cox said the majority of threats in Wyoming have been active shooter threats.

“FBI Denver is aware of numerous hoax bomb threats sent to various education facilities in Wyoming,” an FBI representative told the WTE via email. “The FBI takes hoax threats very seriously because it puts innocent people at risk. While we have no information to indicate a specific and credible threat, we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to gather, share, and act upon threat information as it comes to our attention.

“We urge the public to remain vigilant, and report any and all suspicious activity and/or individuals to law enforcement immediately.”