SPOKANE, Wash. — Three Spokane area middle and high schools received threats involving school safety over about two weeks.
Concerns around school safety prompted school leaders to respond to the incidents.
On Sunday, Ferris High School administrators received a notice of a threat on social media.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office responded Tuesday afternoon to a threat on Snapchat at Deer Park High School.
Staff at Cheney Middle school sent a notification to parents about a threat posted in the girls’ bathroom.
In the case of Ferris’s threat, Brian Coddington, spokesperson for Spokane Public Schools, said the investigation began with school administrators deciding if they needed to contact police.
He said depending on the severity of a threat, a school calls campus security from other schools or also has police do patrols in and outside of buildings.
“There’s a lot of time and resources that go into responding to each and every one of these (threats),” Coddington said.
Police and school staff then analyze the threat to determine their response.
“Sometimes we get reports from song lyrics, for example. So knowing the difference between song lyrics or something that’s not threatening is the first determination that we make,” Coddington said.
He said police are typically able to identify the responsible students. Depending on the severity of the threat, they could be expelled or receive time in juvenile detention.