Mpls. Schools Locked Down After Web Threat - link
Mar 10, 2010 12:50 pm US/Central
MINNEAPOLIS, MN (WCCO)
The Minneapolis School District has locked down all of its buildings for the day after police said a threat to shoot up a Minneapolis school was posted on the Web.

Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia says officers learned early Wednesday that someone had threatened to open fire in a school then shoot themselves.

The lockdown is in response to the threat found on two social networking sites Wednesday morning. Police said the threat was quite vague, but is being treated very seriously.

According to district spokesperson Emily Lowther, the threats made online didn't specify any particular school within the district, so they were all put on alert.

According to school district officials, Minneapolis schools have been placed on "code yellow" status, which means they are locked down but still observing normal student routines.

Garcia said at a news conference that police are taking the threats seriously and working to track down who posted them.

Garcia emphasized that the school district and local police are doing everything they can to ensure the safety of the students and staff and parents can rest assured knowing their kids are safe.

The district's 34,000 students continued to class on Wednesday morning as normal, but access to the buildings was restricted.

It's likely that the alert status will last for the remainder of the day. The district notified parents with its automated telephone system. Another announcement will go out when the district knows more.

St. Paul Public Schools are not in lockdown. However, some schools have tightened security as a precaution.

Quoted:
Actually, they're saying the threat came from Australia.

Quoted:
Actually, they're saying the threat came from Australia.