MISSOULA - Hellgate High School students spent much of their day on Wednesday in lockdown, following a threat posted on social media.
The Missoula Police Department was not alone in responding to the incident.
When the threat was reported shortly after 10 a.m., Missoula PD, the Missoula County Sheriff's Office, the Montana Highway Patrol, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies responded to the call, ensuring the safety of all Hellgate students and faculty.
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The threat was posted on Snapchat and showed a person holding, what looked like, a gun with the Hellgate High School location tag. The caption said "school shooter ong." "Ong" refers to 'on god,' meaning truthful.
Missoula Police Department spokeswoman Whitney Bennet says she immediately saw the picture as a threat and does believe it was a gun in the picture.
“Most people in the United States would look at that picture and say that is threatening, and it’s not okay," Bennett tells MTN News.
A student showed the MPD School Resource Officer at Hellgate High School the post, and the officer immediately took action. She started by recommending the school go into lockdown, then called additional law enforcement to the area.
"She called additional officers to the scene to assist, and with that, we ask for additional agencies, whoever can help in the area, given the threat," Bennet says.
Several different agencies working together can lead to difficulties in communication, according to Bennet — largely due to the fact that they all use different systems to stay in contact with dispatch. Still, they were able to make it work.
“We did a very good job of being able to communicate between all agencies," Bennet says.
While Hellgate High School was in full lockdown, Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) decided to place a district-wide soft lockdown. This meant all other MCPS schools were on alert, and no students or staff were allowed to exit or enter the buildings.
"[Wednesday's] instance was pretty unique in that it involved our entire district," says MCPS spokeswoman Tyler Christensen “Out of an abundance of caution, it felt right to have all of our schools to keep our students inside.”
Due to information from students and teachers and past experience with the girl who posted the threat, police were able to identify the suspect and two other girls who may have been involved.
Throughout the three hours of the lockdown at Hellgate, law enforcement swept the school, making sure the suspects were not on the premises. They also checked local residencies, thought to be associated with the three girls.
After the police were confident the suspect was not in the area around the school, they began a safe evacuation of students. At 1:50 p.m. they released the kids floor by floor, completing the evacuation by 2:20 p.m.
They found the suspects shortly after in a local shopping center. One of the girls is still in custody and is facing pending charges.
“We put our request for charges for the intimidation, tampering of evidence, and obstructing a police officer. We put in those recommendations to the [Missoula] County Attorney’s Office and through youth courts since it does involve a juvenile," Bennet says.
There were other threats circulating social media on Wednesday, but Bennet says they were focused on only one. She says the other threats were unrelated.
“From my understanding, it has nothing to do with the Hellgate High School incident," she says.
Christensen says MCPS was grateful for the support in the investigation.
“We like to thank our partners in law enforcement for their immediate response and investigation, and also thank our staff for their very calm, cool, solid demeanor and helping guide our students through what was an upsetting day for a lot of people," she says.
MCPS is always updating its safety procedures, according to Christensen, and regularly sends out information to parents and students about their crisis response plans.
In regards to national incidents, including the most recent school shooting in Nashville, Christensen says they use those reports to see what changes can be made to their own processes.
While Bennet says Missoula PD has always taken school threats seriously, they've increased their alertness to incidents like the one on Wednesday due to national trends with gun violence in schools.
“Given the most recent events, it is, we take everything very seriously. Probably more than ever," Bennet says. "And it does bring a lot of fear into the community, and it’s not okay.”
Throughout the day on Wednesday, Bennet says rumors were circulating around not only the school but on social media and in the community. While she says she understands people were concerned, she warns against the harm of misinformation.
“It’s important not to alter the truth because then it gets everyone else heightened."
Christensen says they often have conversations in their schools about the dangers of social media. She says they stress a 'see something, say something' rule.
“The constant conversation regarding social media is for all of our students to know that safety is our number one priority. We encourage students to report anything concerning.”
Hellgate High School students were back to a normal school day on Thursday. Christensen says they provided extra support for those who may need it following Wednesday's scary experience.
