Questions: Franklin Central High School Shooting Threat on Snapchat

Monday night we were made aware of a Snapchat threat made towards Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis, which from what we can gather, stemmed from a fight at the school earlier in the day.

We'll preface this with most of the updates we saw were from individuals on Facebook, so take it with a grain of salt until it can be verified.

The Snapchat screenshot we saw stated, “If you go to franklin central high school don't go tomorrow someone is shooting up the school”.

Statement From Franklin Central High School Principal

Here is the statement made on Facebook from Franklin Central High School principle Chase Huotari.

This evening we were made aware of a post made on social media directed at Franklin Central High School. The safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance. In conjunction with our school police department, we have investigated every lead and determined that this is not a credible threat.

It is unfortunate that someone has used social media to try and disrupt the educational process at Franklin Central. Our police department and administration will continue to investigate to determine who may be responsible for the post.

Again, the safety and security of our students is of the utmost importance. As a precautionary measure, there will be an increased police presence tomorrow.

Thanks,

Chase Huotari, Principal
Franklin Central High School

Questions and the Rumor Mill

Upon reading this it left us with an uneasy feeling and questions.

How was it determined that this wasn't a credible threat?  You state that you're trying to “determine who may be responsible for the post”, which insinuates that the sender is indeed unknown.

Do you know where it may have come from? Was it real? We don't need names or details, just general information to put everyone's minds at ease. Not offering this gets the rumor mill turning fast, which isn't helpful for anyone. The amount of conflicting information and outright speculation that we saw was/is beyond absurd. Just the facts, please.

At first glance, it did seem like the investigation was completed quickly, which we saw many comments on, but the truth of the matter is that they said it was an ongoing investigation and that they didn't deem it a credible threat. Fair enough, but that's still enough uncertainty to not put one's mind at ease. As the leader, you need to assure everyone that everything is fine, but people are going to question a vague response, especially given the fact that there was a school shooting in central Indiana a mere three months ago.

And finally, did the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) get involved in this investigation? Every mention specifies the school police, not the local police department.

School police are nice for normal situations, but you really need someone with more authority in this sort of situation. One would assume that school police are limited in what they can actually do on a legal level, however, we are unable to find any information on the Franklin Township Community School Corp. website regarding their police department to verify what level of authority that they do have.

Bottom line, keep the children as safe as possible and don't make it appear that potential threats are just being dismissed, even when we all know better than that. The mind is a funny thing and will question every move you make and every word you use in such a situation detrimental to our survival and our children's survival when the “fight or flight” responses kick in.

IMPD on the Scene

Circling back to IMPD, yes, we heard that they were indeed aware of the situation and that they were indeed at Franklin Central High School patrolling this morning along with the school police department.

However, we have not yet seen a public statement as to the extent of either department's involvement.  But we would assume that if anything substantial is revealed, we will hear about it.

UPDATE: August 21, 2018 @ 1:24pm

Social Media

For those wanting to keep updated, be sure to follow along with the school & IMPD on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/fchsflashes/

https://www.facebook.com/IMPDNews