BROOKINGS – A potential threat by a student was quickly contained after Brookings High School administration were made aware of it and alerted law enforcement Wednesday, according to a statement released by Principal Paul von Fischer early Wednesday afternoon.
“While a written threat was made, the student assured us that at no time was there ever an intent to act on the threat,” he said, but the principal never specified what kind of threat was made.
The Brookings Police Department, school resource officers, and Assistant Chief Derrick Powers were notified.
“Officers and detectives were at Brookings High School within minutes of our report,” von Fischer said.
“Brookings Police Department Personnel and BHS Administration were quickly able to determine the individual responsible for the threat and took action to isolate this person. Due to the timely manner in which the juvenile was identified and isolated, school administration and law enforcement determined that a school closure was not necessary,” von Fischer said.
“Nonetheless, the Brookings School District explicitly forbids threats to harm others. Therefore, the school district has and will continue to take this situation seriously and will seek to impose disciplinary action according to school board adopted policy as well as state and federal law,” von Fischer said.
“We would like to thank the Brookings Police Department and the students who came forward so quickly to bring a timely and effective conclusion to this situation,” he said.
Von Fischer ended the press release with a warning for the future.
“We will again take this opportunity to urge parents and guardians to remind your children that threats will be taken seriously, and it is the responsibility of everyone – administration, staff, students, and parents – to ensure our schools continue to be a safe place to learn and grow,” von Fischer said.
