There’s no credible threat to social media post listing Eagle County schools as targets, officials say
The Eagle County Sheriff's Office says it has 'not found any evidence to substantiate the claims' and that it appears to be an incident of 'swatting'
Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily
Law enforcement and school district officials on Monday said a widely shared social media post listing various Colorado schools as targets, including some in Eagle County, appears to be an incident of “swatting.”
“Local law enforcement found no credibility to the social media post, and the decision was made to carry on with our school day as normal,” Eagle County School District Superintendent Phil Qualman wrote in an email to staff and district families just before 11 a.m. Monday. The email, Qualman’s third addressing the social media post in 12 hours, provided more information about the district’s decision to keep schools open.
“Swatting” entails making an illegal prank message to emergency services and falsely reporting a serious crime or criminal threat to initiate an armed police turnout to a specific location.
Students’ safety “is always our top priority,” Qualman said. “In an effort to provide support and normalcy for our students, we made the decision to continue with classes and extracurriculars today with an increased police presence out of an abundance of caution.”
The social media post listed multiple Colorado schools where local law enforcement agencies also found the threat to be unsubstantiated, Qualman said in the email. “These schools have also remained open today, with some of them not sharing out any information to keep fear from spreading in their communities.”
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Activities will be canceled at some Eagle County schools today “due to lack of attendance,” rather than safety concerns, Qualman said, adding that parents who decided to keep their child home for safety reasons should reach out to their child’s school to ensure the absence is excused. Many parents decided to keep their children home from school on Monday despite receiving information from the district and the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office that the threat was unsubstantiated, resulting in lightly populated classrooms in some schools.
The Sheriff’s Office posted an update to social media at 10:45 a.m. on Monday sharing more information about the investigation. According to the post, Sheriff’s Office deputies were alerted to “an anonymous report of threats of violence at Battle Mountain High School” around 8:30 p.m. on Sunday and viewed “a screenshot listing some schools in Eagle County, schools in the Denver metro area, and schools in Texas.”
While “nothing in the original list indicated that these schools were the target of an attack,” the source of the screenshot is unknown. Later, the Sheriff’s Office received “a Snapchat photo of a suspected rifle with potential identifying information.”
Deputies investigated throughout the night, including speaking with “several students in person who were reported to have originated the post. There is no indication at this time that any of these person(s) are involved in making the original posts,” the Sheriff’s Office post said.
Federal agents and all law enforcement agencies across Colorado and in other locations were notified of the investigation.
The investigation into the threats, including the source of the original screenshot and the Snapchat photo, is ongoing.
Officials from the school district and the Sheriff’s Office declined to comment further on the situation.
A string of emails
In the first email, sent at 12:28 a.m. on Monday, Qualman said the district was working with law enforcement officials to determine the validity of the post while planning additional safety measures.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office posted to its Facebook page that it has “not found any evidence to substantiate the claims made in the post.”
The post continued, “We are working with the School District and will have an increased presence throughout the day.”
Qualman sent a second email to district families and staff at 7:28 a.m. on Monday to share that, based on the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office’s investigation, all district schools would remain open for the day. Every school will have “an increased police presence, especially at the schools listed in the social media threat,” and district leaders are also on-site in schools “to provide additional support,” according to the email.
Qualman’s initial email at 12:28 a.m. generated a response from a group of students, who asked to be excused from school for the day without consequences.
“Our student body has been flooded with news of a possible threat,” the email reads. “Despite the uncertainty surrounding the source of this threat, its serious nature has left many of us feeling vulnerable. As students, our primary focus should be on learning and achieving our goals, but it is difficult to concentrate when our safety is in question. This situation has led many of us to consider not attending school until decisive action is taken to ensure the protection of all students and staff.”
