TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – School leaders and investigators say parents, students, and faculty members at several local schools were dealing with their worst nightmare this week as several threats on social media came to light.
“When we share things and continue that sharing, it actually builds the fear instead of reporting it to the people who can actually do something about it,” said VCSC Superintendent Dr. Chris Himsel.
Five students were arrested and charged with felonies at Otter Creek Middle School, Terre Haute South, and Terre Haute North high school, Sarah Scott Middle School, and Woodrow Wilson Middle School because of these threats.
“I stand here today with leaders from local law enforcement, the city, the prosecutor’s office, and the school corporation to make it very clear, this behavior will not be tolerated,” said Public Information Officer for THPD Justin Sears.
Although under state law their identities were not released investigators confirmed the students are each facing a felony charge and Vigo County Prosecutor Terry Modesitt said his office is already moving forward with criminal cases.
“That felony charge is intimidation which carries a maximum of 2 and a half years of imprisonment,” said Modesitt. “We are talking about serious charges here. Those of us sitting up here today are bonded together to protect our children and deal with these actions very harshly.”
Superintendent Himsel said the students also face severe repercussions from the school corporation.
“These are our kids,” said Himsel. “When you’re an educator every child that walks through our school, is one of our kids. We take ownership during the school day, we care for them in the same way that they are our own kids and so when you threaten our schools, you have threatened our kids.”
In the wake of the threats and the arrests, Mayor Brandon Sakbun said there is now an increased law enforcement presence at area schools and in some neighborhoods.
“There is a cost to all of this,” said Sakbun. “You will see an increase of officers and their presence in our schools. You will also see more state troopers in and around the community. We are working with our state and federal partners in order to keep our kids and community safe.”
Leaders are urging parents to tackle these issues head-on and cautioning that if they see a threat on social media, they should refrain from sharing it.
“We need our parents to get involved,” said THPD Chief Kevin Barrett. “We need our parents to talk to their children and look in their phones and tell them not to repost things that they see and to inform an adult about them. The parents have to get involved because we are just reactionary. The parents can actually stop this from happening from their homes and children’s phones and they need to get more involved with those phones.”
“I do want to stress that a lot of them are just sharing it, report it don’t share it,” Sears added. “That is one of the biggest things because you are not helping things if you don’t report it. Sharing it is just making it worse.”
For local leaders, this is a personal battle.
“I have two children in Vigo County schools, and they are both at school today,” said Sears. “I had conversations with both children like I am sure most members of our community have, and neither one of them had a qualm with going to school today. They both are familiar with their school resource officers, they know them by name, they interact with them every day, and they feel safe when they go to school. Like everybody else here, our children are in school today as well.”
Superintendent Himsel agreed that it was important to note that parents can bring their children back to the classroom.
“Our kids are safe right now,” said Himsel. “There was nothing that we have found in these investigations that indicate that it is unsafe to send your kids to school. We are taking extra precautions, and we are doing extra things. These are our kids, and we are doing everything possible to keep them safe.”
These leaders emphasized that these threats are happening both across the state and across the country this week. Sadly, Terre Haute is not alone in facing this problem.
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