Students at CCHS and other local schools in the county might have noticed the presence of extra Cook County Law Enforcement around the school grounds Wednesday and early Thursday of this week.
Officers were on heightened patrol following a threat posted anonymously on a chat room when an individual said he was thinking of shooting up a school in northern Minnesota.
“We received the threat and responded by making extra officers present around school grounds,” said Cook County Deputy Sheriff Will Sandstrom when contacted Wednesday evening at about 8:30 .
“We took the threat seriously and are on heightened awareness. We do whatever we can to keep schools safe,” said Sandstrom. “There will be more officers on patrol on Thursday.”
Schools from North Dakota to the Canadian border were all issued the same alert from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). According to Channel 6 news in Duluth, the Detroit Lakes School District issued a code yellow on all school buildings in the district after receiving the threat.
A code yellow means that exterior doors to the buildings are locked, and the only way in is to get clearance from the office staff.
At Cook County High School (which houses the middle school and grade school) teachers and staff were put on notice to be extra aware of who was in the building, said K-12 principal Adam Nelson.
“Thankfully the Sheriff ’s Office notified us of the threat right away,” said Nelson. “It wasn’t an imminent threat, but a heightened alert. We told all of the teachers and staff about the possible threat and to be extra alert for individuals who shouldn’t be in the school.”
An imminent threat would constitute a lockdown at the school, with all entrances secured and monitored by security cameras and staff, said Nelson. Teachers would follow school protocol in that situation, with classrooms secured.
Parents were also notified electronically about the heightened alert if they had signed up for alerts from the school, said school board chairman Jeanne Anderson.
“Thankfully they caught the individual,” said Nelson on Thursday morning at about 10: 30.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents identified the juvenile who posted the message on an online chat room threatening violence at an unnamed northern Minnesota school. He was apprehended in Hoyt Lakes in St. Louis County. He and his parents are cooperating with investigators.
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