Ann Zaniewski

Detroit Free Press

Cass Tech High School will be closed Friday after someone threatened on social media to shoot teachers.

Detroit Public Schools Transition Manager Steven Rhodes said officials continue to investigate the threat and will pursue federal cyber security/terrorism charges against whomever is found responsible He also pledged to review the district's threat protocols and procedures.

District officials learned of the threat Wednesday morning. It first surfaced the night before on Instagram, said LaMethia Champion, recording secretary for the Cass Association parent group.

The writer of the message threatened to take his or her father's gun to school on Friday and kill teachers, Champion said.

DPS calls threat against Cass Tech 'not credible,' but parents fret

It was not clear late Thursday what prompted the district to reverse course on its earlier message to parents to send their children to school as normal Thursday and Friday. A posting Wednesday on the district's Facebook page said the threat was not credible.

Rhodes said he decided to cancel classes after consulting with Cass Tech principal Lisa Phillips, DPS Police Chief Stacy Brackens and leaders of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.

“Also, in partnership with the DFT, I held a meeting (Wednesday) afternoon at Cass with interested parents and teachers to discuss their concerns about recent threats involving their school and to let them know that the district would be conducting a thorough review of its threat response protocols and procedures. I also asked for volunteers to participate in this process, which will be conducted with all urgency," he said in an e-mailed statement.

Champion, who attended with meeting with Rhodes, said investigators are still working to pinpoint the source of the threat.

She said parents were alerted via a robo-call this evening that the school would be closed Friday.

Champion said she and some other parents were concerned that the district wasn't taking the threat seriously at first. She said they were thrilled to learn that Cass would be closed.

"I'm elated," she said. "It seems like they are taking the threat seriously."

Contact staff writer Ann Zaniewski at 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AnnZaniewski.