BOONE, NC — Police say there is no credible or verified information at this time to support a possible threat to students at Watauga High School.
Around 3pm Thursday, authorities say a complaint was made regarding a student threatening violence at the school. Boone Police and Watauga County School officials immediately launched an investigating into the incident, but did not elaborated on the specifics of the threat.
Boone Police say they’re also working with the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office and SBI to investigate the incident, but at this time there seems to be no credible or verified information to support the threat that was allegedly made.
“To this point in the investigation, misinformation is far more prevalent than actual information of a credible threat,” says Andy LeBeau, Captain of Police Operations, Boone Police Department. “We are more at ease now that the student and family are cooperating with the investigation. We take any report of threats against our schools extremely seriously. We are continuing to work diligently to discover the truth concerning these reported threats.”
Officials placed additional security at the school Friday and say there were no problems reported, and the student in question was absent.
“We take situations like these extremely seriously, and from the moment we have any indication of even the possibility of a threat, we immediately start work to ensure the safety of our students,” says Watauga County Schools Superintendent Dr. Scott Elliott. “I appreciate the quick response of law enforcement and their thorough investigation. Even though we did not believe there was a threat to the school on Friday, we took steps to ensure extra law enforcement was present in order to be as reassuring to students and parents as possible.”
Watauga County School officials say attendance was down 25%, which was partly due to the potential threat.
“I fully expect that we will be back to business as normal on Monday, and we look forward to seeing all our students back in their normal routines,” said Elliott. “We will continue to provide extra security and support for our students for as long as it is needed.”
Officials say the investigation is ongoing, and increased security at the school will be in place until the matter is resolved.
