The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security contacted all Kentucky school districts Monday to make officials aware of a potential incident at a Kentucky school.
Lindsey Hix, Kentucky Intelligence Fusion Center Director for the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, sent the email to school district officials statewide, describing a Facebook post that mentioned a possible incident at a Kentucky school on Aug. 28.
“Initially the threat was reported to FBI Little Rock from an individual outside of the US,” the email read. “The threat was read in a gaming chat room that indicated there is going to be an incident at a Kentucky and Arkansas school on the 28th and 29th of this month.”
Hix said the threat did not name a specific location in either state and was very generalized. At this time, the complaint remains unsubstantiated.
Owensboro Public Schools and Daviess County Public Schools posted statements on their respective social media outlets regarding the notice from Kentucky Office of Homeland Security.
“At this time there is absolutely no credible threat or reason to believe any of our students are in danger,” OPS’ statement read. “Our school resource officer and the Owensboro Police Department are aware of the information as well and will work with our school safety team to monitor the situation. We will notify parents if any direct threat to our district arises.”
OPS Pubic Information Officer Jared Revlett said OPS takes all information they receive regarding school safety very seriously.
“Typically, we will share any information, generalized or direct, with local law enforcement,” he said. “If it is a generalized message with no direct threat to a specific district, we will share that with districts near us and sometimes statewide depending on the circumstance. We will also notify principals and other district admins so they are aware should they hear anything from their parents or students. Normally, we will only push out a communication to parents in the event of a direct threat to our district. In this instance, several school districts across the state, including one fairly local district, shared the internal communication on social media and therefore we had to follow suit as word began to spread.”
DCPS Superintendent Matt Robbins issued a similar statement, informing parents that DCPS had not received any threats and that the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office was contacted.
“It is a sad reality that threats and other concerns have become so common, but please be assured that we take each situation seriously and respond with a diligent investigation in partnership with law enforcement and security professionals,” Robbins said.
Earlier this year, DCPS communicated with families about KRS 508.078, informing them that “the district will pursue immediate legal charges for felony terroristic threatening in the second degree and will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law against anyone who makes such threats against a school.”
Robbins encouraged parents to talk to their children about the serious consequences involved with making a threat, as well as the importance of sharing information about a potential threat or any situation of concern.
