Friday, March 29, 2024

School threat at Chelan High School investigated

Updated with comments from CHS Principal and LCSD Superintendent

Posted

Sheriff Brian Burnett reports on October 30th at approximately 6:00 PM, the Chelan High School principal received screen shot of a snapchat conversation mentioning a school shooting.

The conversation was a group snapchat involving multiple students from the Chelan School District.  One student took screen shots of some of the comments and contacted the school.  School staff along with responding Deputies were able to identify the students based on the avatars they used in the conversation.  After contacting an involved student and parents, it was determined there were alarming statements made, however the threat was not credible.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s office has three school resource officers and one is assigned to the Chelan and Manson School Districts. He was notified soon after the incident was reported and is working with the district to resolve the situation.  The school district did an emergency expulsion of one of the students involved in the evening of October 30th and they are working with the Sheriff’s office to expel another student this morning.  The Sheriff’s Office has an extra presence at the school this morning including a Detective if needed for follow-up on the incident.

The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office school resource officers are committed to partnering with the school districts to provide a safe environment for the students.  Threats to the schools are taken seriously no matter what the initial intent was.

"Thanks to our awesome students who did the right thing and let an adult know right away when they saw something that wasn’t right! We take all potentially threatening statements very seriously, and are very grateful for the collaboration of the Chelan County Sheriff's department in helping to determine if threats are credible and/or criminal.  Fortunately, in this case students and our school community were never in danger, and we were able to identify the source of the statement quickly and accurately. We are confident that appropriate disciplinary actions have been taken and that CHS/CMS is a safe place for students, staff, and community. Again, thanks to our students who stepped up followed our creed of "See something, say something!" said Chelan High School Principal Brad Wilson.

A high school staff meeting was held first thing in the morning on Oct. 31 to inform staff and prevent any misinformation or rumors from starting. "I was on Kozi to inform the community of the incident and reassure them that we are safe and the threat was false. I was encouraged by the quick response by law enforcement and the fact that students and parents were quick to report the incident to school administrators," said LCSD Superintendent Barry DePaoli.

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