Eagle County sheriff on threats to schools: ‘We’re leaning more toward this is a massive spamming thing’
'We're going to run every lead down until there's nothing else to run down,' James Van Beek says
Zoe Goldstein/Vail Daily
As some Eagle County schools continue to face targeted social media threats to students, the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office is hunting down leads with the help of other local agencies and federal agencies.
In an interview with the Vail Daily on Tuesday afternoon, Eagle County Sheriff James Van Beek admitted to not being entirely certain about the seriousness of the threats, which have included lists of students’ names. He said he empathizes with parents who are struggling with the decision of whether to send their children to school.
“I’m 70%, 75% somewhere I think (the threat is) bogus, but we won’t know until we know,” Van Beek said. “I can say, if people want to keep their kids home, I don’t blame them. But … at the moment, we’re leaning more toward this is a massive spamming thing.”
Investigators still haven’t been able to track down the source of the screenshotted lists of students that have made the rounds on social media. Investigators believe the source of the lists to be an internet spammer, likely able to obtain the names from information readily available on the internet, but a source inside the school district has not yet been ruled out.
“What the benefit of something like this is, other than causing absolute terror, I don’t know,” Van Beek said. “We’re still dealing with it as this is a real thing, but as this goes on, we’re becoming more and more leaning toward we don’t think it’s legit, but we don’t know.”
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Unlike the threat that came through on Sunday night that listed schools in Eagle County, among others in Colorado, as possible targets, which Van Beek said was “pretty easy” to determine was a case of swatting, the lists of students’ names have been more difficult to rule unsubstantiated.
The Sheriff’s Office is working with federal agents and other valley law enforcement agencies on the investigation. Investigators have asked for information from telephone and internet companies and conducted close to a dozen in-depth interviews with people suspected of being connected to the source.
Investigators have turned up nearly identical threats in Boulder County and two other Colorado counties, which is further evidence that the threats are an incident of swatting.
Some avenues, such as working with the certain service providers, “have come to a complete dead end,” Van Beek said. “And that’s also what’s leading us to believe that it’s probably somebody outside, more sophisticated, understands how to hide, buying multiple VPNs and hiding things.”
It has been challenging for investigators to find the source of the lists, as they are attempting to contact trace the screenshots, which have been passed from person to person through social media.
The investigation will continue until the Sheriff’s Office has tried every avenue.
“We’re going to run every lead down until there’s nothing else to run down,” Van Beek said.
As the investigation continues, the Sheriff’s Office is taking the threats seriously.
“We could sit there and say, this is exactly what someone that wants to wreak terror wants … but then if they don’t and it’s something legit and somebody gets hurt, that’s the other side of the coin and we don’t want that either. So that’s that needle that we’re trying to thread,” Van Beek said.
To ensure the safety of students, law enforcement has dispatched extra patrols, and deputies and police officers are stationed throughout the county at public schools.
Schools will remain open, with the standard late start, on Wednesday morning, according to an email sent from Eagle County School District Superintendent Phil Qualman to district staff on Tuesday afternoon. “Should we or local law enforcement learn of any new information that would change this plan, we will communicate that directly to parents,” Qualman said in the email.
The district has elected not to close schools and switch to entirely online learning, as “I believe that our students endured hybrid and online learning enough during the pandemic and that the best way to keep our students safe and support them as they grapple with these fears is to keep them close,” Qualman said.
Students who decide with their families to stay home in light of the threats will be marked “excused,” and some will be able to access their schoolwork on online platforms like Schoology.
As the investigation continues, law enforcement is asking anyone with information to contact them directly.
“We’re encouraging anybody if you’ve got something, if you think you’ve got something, call and we’ll run it down because that might be that little bit that actually puts us in the right direction,” Van Beek said. “If you think you know something, call us.”
Those with information can call the Vail Public Safety Communications Center non-emergency line at 970-479-2201 or anonymously submit a tip to Eagle County Crime Stoppers online at http://www.P3Tips.com or by using the Free ‘P3 Tips’ mobile app. In an emergency, call 911.
Nate Peterson contributed reporting.
