At least 13 'copycat' school threats in Iowa since Florida shooting

In the two weeks since the deadly mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Iowa school districts and police departments have experienced a rash of students making apparent "copycat" threats toward their own schools.

The results have included lockdowns, canceled classes, arrests, strained police resources and increased anxiety.

At least 13 threats across Iowa have risen to a level that required either a lockdown or police intervention. Threats have been made at rural and urban schools and have included students making threats both over social media and writing messages in buildings.

None of the threats has been deemed credible. But even if some students weren't planning an attack, the prospect of gaining attention and demonstrating influence by creating fear or shutting down a school can prompt such threats, said Amy Klinger, director of programs for Educator's School Safety Network.

Particularly after the Florida shooting, Klinger said, her organization recorded a higher amount of threats than usual.

"There’s always a copycat echo situation, but this is significantly higher than what you would expect," Klinger said.

Iowa isn't alone in the increase of school threats. Across the United States, since Feb. 15, at least 600 threats and incidents have occurred, according to Educator's Safety School Network. The organization tallies an "incident" when a student actually brings a weapon to school or breaks into a building.

On average, about 86 threats have been made per day since the Florida shooting, according to the network. That's nearly nine times the daily average of 10 threats the organization recorded in the fall.

In Iowa, at least 13 school threats have occurred since the Florida shooting. Several have resulted in threats of terrorism charges, and students as young as 12 have been sent to juvenile detention centers.

But even before the Florida shooting, Nevada middle and high schools were evacuated Feb. 12 after a threat was emailed from overseas. On Feb. 14, Le Mars Community High School was locked down because of a threatening note, and Martensdale-St. Marys' K-12 building was evacuated because of a bomb threat.

Why copycat threats occur

It's normal for threats against schools to increase following a national event such as the Parkland shooting, but Klinger said the past two weeks have brought a rate above the increase of 20 percent to 30 percent typically seen following a high-profile shooting.

Potential reasons vary. Social media can provide more attention to threats and help students feel anonymous. About 53 percent of the threats in the past few weeks have come from social media, Klinger said.

There's also a higher amount of sustained interest in the Florida shooting than for other recent shootings. Threats are more "normalized" than before the shooting, Klinger said, meaning that students might be making choices they would not have made three weeks ago.

Teenagers don't have fully developed brains, meaning they do not always understand the consequences of their decisions, said Ken Trump, a school safety consultant.

Some of the threats that have been made across the country haven't even been from students, and instead by adults or "internet trolls," she said.

On Feb. 21, according to authorities, a former student at Riceville in northern Iowa who now lives out of state asked someone online to shoot up her old school for her, prompting the district to cancel classes the next day.

Most of the time, youths who are committing "copycat" threats don't actually have a plan to commit violence against their school, said Stephen Satterly, a school safety analyst with Safe Havens International in Georgia.

"But just by announcing it, they can create that attention for themselves," Satterly said.

Stress for Iowa teachers and police

Council Bluffs police were forced to respond to two school threats within five days. On Feb. 22, officers arrested a 12-year-old girl after she allegedly made "terrorist threats" over Snapchat directed toward Kirn Middle School that made reference to firearms and killing everyone at school, according to Council Bluffs police.

This week, Council Bluffs police arrested Giovanni Raymundo, 16, after he allegedly made threats on Monday directed at Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, police said. He was charged with threats of terrorism and brought to the South West Juvenile Detention Center.

"We spend a lot of man-hours and resources investigating these threats, and 99.9 percent of the time they come out to be (not) credible, but we’re going to keep doing our due diligence because we don’t want to be that community, that school district, that agency, that’s the next one on the national news," said Council Bluffs police Capt. Todd Weddum.

Responses to school shootings have changed even in the past 10 years, Trump said. Schools that might once have treated threats more casually now reach out to law enforcement immediately.

Weddum said that, while some people may view the police department's decisions as overreactions, officers have to assume every threat is credible.

Social media has also changed the dynamics of threats, he said. While a student might have been making a joke to a friend, when it's heard out of context by another person, that joke could seem more serious, he said.

"There was a time you don’t say fire in the theater, you don’t say bomb in the airplane and now, you don’t talk about shooting up a school," Weddum said. "That’s the climate we’re living in today."

Iowa teachers have been expressing anger and concern since the Florida shooting, said Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association.

"I’ve seen the fact that they’re very angry any child would feel scared going into a school building," Wawro said. "This is a sacred ground to us."

The union recommends that teachers follow safety guidelines approved by their school boards if threats are made at their schools. Because Iowa schools are locally controlled, the training and security process for one district may be different from another, Wawro said.

How to address copycats

One of the biggest needs nationwide is funding for school safety training, Klinger said.

Many teachers in the country have minimal amount of training when it comes to responding to threats of violence, despite the fact that threats against schools were increasing even before the Florida shooting, Klinger said.

She said educators need to be trained in a variety of safety topics beyond active shooters, including the ability to do threat assessments on students and identify individuals of concern.

Curbing threats requires a "patchwork of solutions," including how to assess when a student may need more attention and how to identify and address concerning behavior.

It goes beyond installing metal detectors or arming teachers with guns, she said.

"If it were a simple fix, we would have fixed it," Klinger said. "We need to start with the things people can agree on which is, we need more training."

Timeline of school threats

Feb. 12: Nevada middle and high schools were evacuated because of a threat sent from overseas.

Feb. 14: Martensdale-St. Marys K-12 building evacuated because of a bomb threat; a 14-year-old student was arrested after leaving a threatening note at Le Mars Community High School, according to KTIV.

Feb. 15: Anamosa High School was evacuated because of a bomb threat. A student was arrested.



Feb 19: A student was arrested after threatening a shooting in the Southeast Warren Community School District; a student made a threat at Maquoketa High School and was arrested.



Feb. 21: A former Riceville student living in Minnesota asked someone online to shoot up the school for her, prompting school to close the next day. She later said she was joking.

Feb. 22: Classes were canceled at Dubuque Senior High School after a threat was made; a 12-year-old girl made a threat on Snapchat directed at Kirn Middle School in Council Bluffs.

Feb. 23: A Mason City High School student said he/she was going to bring a weapon and use it and was arrested.

Feb. 26: Mason City police went to the high school in response to an Instagram post that said: "Don't go to the assembly they found they found two of the planned shooters guns." In Davenport, a student made a verbal threat at Sudlow Intermediate School, according to the Quad-City Times.

Feb. 27: A threatening message was found in a West Branch Community School district building. Classes were canceled the next day. Also Feb. 27, a 15-year-old student in Fort Dodge was charged with threats of terrorism after posting about a school shooting on social media; Giovanni Raymundo, 16, was charged with threats of terrorism after making a threat directed towards Lewis Central High school in Council Bluffs.

Feb. 28: Centerville High School staff called police after a student reported information of a "concerning nature." The threat was not found credible, but police stayed on school grounds.