Belleville police are questioning a person of interest for allegedly spreading threatening social media messages inside the Belleville School District.
Investigators got a report late Sunday night about an Instagram post with a picture of a rifle and a warning telling students to stay away from Belleville West High School on Monday. The post also included a racial slur.
St. Louis Public Schools, the Hazelwood and Mascoutah Districts all dealt with similar threats Monday. Police say none of them were credible. But that didn't stop some schools and parents from taking extra precautions.
A soft lockdown was put in place at Hazelwood West High School Monday morning after an online threat was reported by a student to school leaders. Students were kept in their first period classes and weren't allowed in hallways unless they were joined by an adult. Hazelwood Police and school officials lifted the lockdown Monday afternoon once investigators ruled it was safe.
School principal Dennis Newell says the prevalence of social media among students helps threats spread quickly, even when they're spread as a joke. That creates difficult safety decisions for schools.
“This is the fire alarm or the false alarm of today,” said Newell. “We're responsible to our parents and students and staff and we're obliged to take everything seriously. And that's the way we do it.”
Cathy Schmidt's daughter goes to Roosevelt High School in south St. Louis. She says her daughter saw a threat on Instagram Monday morning which showed a pile of guns and read, “Don't come to school Fanning, Roosevelt, Long, Carnahan. Loaded up bout (to) head out.”
All the schools named are in the St. Louis Public School System and are located in south St. Louis.
Schmidt says she immediately called St. Louis Police and Roosevelt High School and then decided to keep her daughter home for the day.
“I didn't know if this was a hoax or if this was real or if there was somebody planning on doing something,” said Schmidt.
St. Louis Police told 5 On Your Side the post was sent nationwide and their intelligence division was monitoring it.
Belleville police say they've seen photos and posts similar to the one in the Belleville District in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Virginia. They believe people are creating the threatening messages by altering screenshots from other posts or news articles.
