PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — There was a heightened level of concern at Desert Shadows Elementary School in Phoenix on Thursday after parents learned about a possible threat involving a student.
“Extremely scary,” said parent Christine Reimeier. “You can’t take a chance that it is just a threat.” “While they are at school, they should be learning,” added parent Danny Harrington. “They shouldn’t have to be worried about something like that.”
The threat was reportedly posted in an online chat room and discovered on Wednesday. It said, “If a (student) is ever added back, I will walk in Hitler’s steps. However, instead of killing Jews, I will kill all 6th graders at Desert Shadows Elementary.”
“I don’t feel like these kids really realize what they are saying when they make a threat like that,” said parent Midy Bolen. “I don’t know that they are going to really carry out a threat, but we have to be careful.”
School officials said they were told the threat was made as a prank. The principal of Desert Shadows Elementary sent an email to parents Wednesday that read in part:
“As soon as we learned of the comments, we immediately contacted the Phoenix Police Department.
While I can’t provide details of the situation, I can tell you that the police have investigated, the individual has been identified, and there is no reason to believe that a danger exists on our campus.”
Katey McPherson is a cyber safety expert. She said parents and educators need to do a better job of teaching kids about tolerance and appropriate behavior online. “Teen brain and tween brain forget things real easily, so they need constant messaging about digital wellness, digital citizenship and digital leadership, and this won’t be tolerated,” said McPherson. “It can’t just happen after something like this happens.”
Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.