ST JOHNS, Fla. — There will be extra security at a St. Johns County high school on Tuesday, April 25th because of a threat written on a bathroom stall. We first notified you of the threat on April 21.
The threat was found at Bartram Trail High School and reported to authorities on April 20.
The district explains a student reported a message written on a girl's bathroom stall stating there will be a school shooting on April 25th. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office spokesperson says their initial investigation shows the threat is not credible.
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said there was a photo shared on Snapchat, but they have not identified who wrote the message. Senior Director for School Services with the school district Paul Abbatinozzi says it's understandable that parents mat be nervous.
“We do have a great relationship with local law enforcement. We do take these matters seriously," Abbatinozzi said. "We have been investigating this since its fruition so trying to locate an individual who did this writing. So it’s not something we sit idly by. We do believe we have a very safe environment, but we don’t leave any stone unturned.”
Entry points to the school will be a major focus. Abbatinozzi says they rely on students to report information.
Parents and students can download the Fortify FL app where they can report tips directly to the district and law enforcement.
The Sheriff’s Office is investigating further into who wrote the message.
“The Sheriff’s department and ourselves, we don’t support a lot of credibility with this. That doesn’t mean that if we find out the individual that did this, that we aren’t going to take steps pretty significantly within our student code of conduct," says Abbatinozzi. "This is certainly behavior we don’t want to see our students exhibit.”
Expect to see extra patrol cars around the school grounds. The Sheriff’s Office says this is not taking away any resources from any other schools in the district.
If you wish to opt-in and receive emergency text alerts from schools and the district staff of St. Johns County, click here.