Some parents concerned about threat made by Allen ISD student, despite police saying it's not credible
ALLEN, Texas - Parents at an Allen ISD elementary school said they are concerned after they received a letter about an alleged social media threat toward a student.
Police said it wasn't a "credible" threat.
Some parents decided to keep their kids home Wednesday after learning about the threat made by a Cheatham Elementary School student.
They said they want to know more about why police believe the threat is not credible.
"My child did not go to school [Wednesday], nor did about 12 others that are peers because there are concerns about safety," one mother said.
FOX 4 obtained a screenshot that prompted the principal of Cheatham Elementary to notify parents about the alleged threat.
A mother said the image, which shows a boy's hand pointing a gun at a camera, was sent to her daughter's classmate.
"You see a boy with a gun. He's saying don't make me show up and shoot you," she said.
The mother said the student who sent the message previously assaulted her daughter.
"We filed incident reports and are the in process of getting a restraining order," she said.
She says a teacher also told her there was a verbal threat.
"She informed me [Tuesday] the boy told a classmate there he is going to shoot up the school and unalive himself," she said.
She said she also notified the principal.
Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for the district said Allen ISD was not aware of a threat made to shoot up the school.
The school principal wrote, "We are aware that there has been an alleged social media threat to one of our students. I have been in contact with the Allen Police Department, and they do not believe there is any credible threat to our campus. I wanted to send this letter to reassure parents that our entire campus and school district takes any threats of violence seriously."
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"I am concerned that is a classmate of my daughter’s, and what are we going to do about that?" the mother said.
Criminologist Alex Del Carmen, at Tarleton State University, said threats like this must be thoroughly investigated.
"We have seen in the past few months and few years that many of the schools had prior knowledge of some of these individuals that wanted to cause harm. They either disregarded it, or took it seriously for about a minute and they abandoned it. History has taught us now, through Uvalde, and various others incidents that they have to take it seriously," Del Carmen said.
The principal wrote to parents: "As a proactive measure, I encourage you to continue to talk with your children about the severity of making a threat against another student. This includes verbal or written threats, including text messages or on social media."
"I'm going to keep my daughter home until I can be assured she will be safe at school," the mother said.
The mother said there are 20 parents who want to meet with the principal about their concerns.