TULSA — Three school threats in one week are keeping investigators, school staff, students and their parents on their toes.
Green Country schools initiate their emergency lockdown protocols twice. One district canceled school.
A security expert says, the majority of threats end up being false alarms. That was the case for Henryetta High School and Broken Arrow High School.
But, at Union Freshman Academy, Monday, a weapon was found and a student arrested.
Charlie Bushyhead, Associate Superintendent for Union Public Schools says, "Anytime that you hear this, it's very alarming. Scary."
Henryetta’s band director, Alan Montgomery, says, “We live in crazy times. You just have to be very observant and vigilant."
The alleged threats at Henryetta and Broken Arrow turned out to be not credible.
District officials say, the Union student who brought a gun to school by backpack did not actually threaten anyone.
Ken Trump, President of National School Safety and Security – a consulting firm based in Ohio – says, "The vast majority of threats turn out to be unfounded, but every threat has to be investigated thoroughly, treated seriously, and have appropriate consequences when perpetrators are caught."
Trump says the majority of threats are made by social media, which means a digital footprint is left behind.
“Law enforcement is getting much better at tracking down the digital footprints of threat makers. Sadly, the majority of threat-makers turn out to be kids. They don't realize a ton of bricks is going to fall upon them."
The Union caught with a gun was arrested and pending criminal charges.
Trump says, "Many of the threat-makers don't realize you can't put the genie back in the bottle. There is no such thing, in today's world, as a threat that turns out to be a joke."
Although this week's threats turned out to be false alarms the scare is still real.
Elizabeth James, a Broken Arrow High student’s mother, says, “I'm scared! I'm weighing out k-12 right now. Should I take him out of high school? Should I start teaching him at home?"
Trump says, “All threats have to be treated seriously. The good news is the majority of threats turn out to be unfounded and not credible."
