School threat averted

Bob Bonnar
NLJ Editor
 
Law enforcement and school officials have supplied no further information regarding a potential threat at a local school that was announced in a press release over the weekend.
Shortly before 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, March 30, Weston County School District #1 issued a community-wide press release via local and social media to inform residents that a threat to harm students and staff had been discovered and dealt with by school and law enforcement officials. The press release was distributed at the same time via alert phone call to parents and other community members on the school district’s call list.
“On Friday afternoon March 29th 2019, Weston County School District #1 officials learned about a possible threat by a student to harm other students and staff. School district officials reported the threat to the Newcastle Police Department, who continued to investigate the situation. The school district and police department took action to avert the threat, to ensure the safety of the students and staff of Newcastle High School. School district officials and the police department officers took this threat seriously, and were able to intervene,” the release issued by WCSD #1 Superintendent Brad LaCroix stated.
The weekly dispatch logs submitted to the News Letter Journal by the Newcastle Police Department indicate that the department was notified of the possible threat on Saturday morning. The “terrorist threats reported” occurred at 9:17 a.m. on March 30 (see Blotter on page 12).
LaCroix told the News Letter Journal on Tuesday that the district would not comment further about the possible threat because he believes law enforcement is still investigating the matter, but in the release issued on Saturday afternoon he thanked “his staff, students and law enforcement who worked together to address this matter quickly” and urged people to continue to report potential threats when they become aware of them.
“He wants to emphasize the importance of students, parents and staff communicating with school officials and/or law enforcement if they become aware of a possible threat to students or the community,” the release concluded.
Newcastle Police Chief Jim Owens told the News Letter Journal on Tuesday that his department had no information to release to the public beyond that provided in the school’s press release on Saturday.
 
(Editor’s note: Alexis Barker contributed to this report.)