A heavy police presence was seen at Dublin Independent School District campuses Monday, May 8 after a threat was received over the weekend.
According to information released by the Dublin Police Department, shortly before 7 p.m. on Sunday, DPD received a report of a potential threat to the Dublin ISD Secondary Campus (junior high and high school).
An investigation was immediately initiated and within two hours, a suspect was identified.
According to Assistant Superintendent Terri White, whenever there is a threat, the district contacts law enforcement, gives them time to conduct an investigation and then the district’s behavior threat assessment team is contacted.
It was determined, in this case, that the suspect was a juvenile, did not live in Texas and had no means of getting to the state, DPD said.
“It was further determined that there did not appear to be any imminent danger to Dublin ISD campuses,” Police Chief Cameron Ray said.
White said the police department offered to have extra officers on campuses and the district decided to take them up on the offer, just to add to presence of mind for parents and students.
DPD, State Troopers and Erath County Sheriff ’s Office personnel were placed on the campuses.
“I would like to personally thank all law enforcement agencies that are assisting with this investigation as well as the Dublin ISD administration for their assistance. The safety and security of our children is of the utmost importance to the Dublin Police Department. We will continue to take any actions necessary to ensure that our children have a safe and secure learning environment,” Ray said.
White clarified when a threat occurs, typically only the parents/guardians of those at the affected campus are notified via a phone call.
“If you have a student at secondary campus and did not receive a phone call, something is wrong in the registration process and you need to contact the principal of that campus,” White said.
With the threat over the weekend, the school district administration met with law enforcement first thing Monday morning and the all-call for parents of secondary school students went out at around 9 a.m.
If a threat could impact more than one campus or the entire district, then all parents/guardians would be notified with an allcall.
“It took time and speeding up the process is something we are working on,” White said.
Ray said this type of crime would typically be a Class A Misdemeanor with confinement at a juvenile detention facility.
The chief said since the person making threats lives in another state, they are working with law enforcement there and they will be the ones to actually charge the juvenile.
“This is all started over social media and online gaming systems. I would urge parents to ensure they know who and on what platforms their children are communicating with other people,” he said. “In this instance it was a juvenile communicating with another juvenile, but it could have easily been an adult as they had never physically met.”
Ray said their investigation is nearly complete and will be forwarded to law enforcement in the state where the juvenile resides.