UPDATE: Social Media Threats to Schools Continue to Cause Fear
Deputies now believe the social media threat reported this morning regarding “West Valley High School” is the same post which was circulated via social media in Yakima County in the last couple of days.
We thank everyone for reporting threats to us and as we all know, they need to be taken seriously and investigated.
We also ask parents to talk with their children and young adults about the importance to report threats and the need to find out if the posts is just being “shared” or if they know who/where the post originated. Not only could this type of information be extremely valuable during an investigation, it could help us possibly stop an actual incident or help determine the threat is not connected to our local schools.
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Social Media Threats to Schools Continue to Cause Fear
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has received several reports of a social media post being circulated of a threat written on a school bathroom wall. These posts appear similar to posts which have been spread over social media the last few days in other area. West Valley High School has been placed on modified lockdown as a precaution while School Official and Deputies investigate these posts.
This morning at approximately 6:45 a.m., the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office began receiving report of social media posts referring to “West Valley High School” and a threat written on a bathroom wall. School Resource Deputies and West Valley School Officials were notified and they began an investigation.
These posts are similar to threats circulated over several social media platforms in the last few days and possibly experienced in Yakima County two days ago, but for the safety of students and staff, West Valley High School has been placed on modified lockdown while Deputies continue to investigate.
We want to be clear, NO actual threat has been found written on bathroom walls at West Valley High School here in Spokane. Also, the bathroom tiles pictured in the posted threats are different than the tiles at West Valley High School.
The safety of students and staff are always paramount and reports of threats are taken seriously by the Sheriff’s Office and West Valley High School Officials. We will continue to work together as we investigate these threats further.
West Valley School Officials ask their parents to please notify the school if they plan to keep their student(s) home or if they plan to pick them up from school.
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