Several school threats meant to cause alarm investigated, students charged
Jeremy McClure
On Dec. 16, the Sioux City Police Department became aware of a post circulating on the social media platform TikTok which made a threat of violence against schools to be committed on Friday Dec. 17 in all schools across the country. We immediately began monitoring this threat and working with our partners in law enforcement and the schools in Sioux City to ensure the safety of students.
During the evening of the 16th, we started receiving reports of threats against our schools that were being shared on social media.
In response, the Sioux City Police Department dedicated several officers to thoroughly investigating these threats. This included a report of a subject telling several people he was planning on bringing a gun to school, a conversation in which a student was implying threats against East Middle, a post depicting a gun with a threat towards North Middle, and posts on TikTok of several students at East High School pointing their phones like guns.
Officers worked quickly to identify the students responsible for these posts and to assess the seriousness of the threats. The department also worked closely with the Sioux City Community School District to keep them informed of these threats and to locate these students.
In all the cases investigated, it was found that none of the threats were legitimate and all were intended to cause alarm amongst the students attending Sioux City Schools.
As of noon, on Dec. 17th, investigators have charged six students with harassment in connection to the creation of these threats. The Sioux City Community School District has also taken steps to keep these students out of the school until the investigations are completed. Appropriate discipline measures will also be taken by the schools that could include suspension and expulsion.
Detectives are continuing their investigations into these threats and will be providing legal processes to the social media platforms to obtain additional evidence into the threats. Additional charges will be filed against students responsible for creating these threats.
Out of an abundance of caution, the department assigned additional officers to patrol around schools to ensure the safety and security of the students today.
The Sioux City Police Department, the Sioux City Community School District, and the Diocese of Sioux City Catholic Schools have a close partnership to address concerns and threats affecting the safety of children in our community.
The Sioux City Police Department has zero tolerance for threats or acts that endanger the safety of students. We will thoroughly investigate and charge those responsible for these acts.
We are committed to preventing violence in our schools and to ensure the safety of all students in our community.
We again thank the students and parents who provided us this information and encourage them to continue to be vigilant.
We also encourage parents to not only talk to their kids about the seriousness of this situation, but also know what social media their children are on and what they are posting.