Five Indiana Teens Were Arrested After Reportedly Making Threats Against Their Schools Online
INDIANAPOLIS — A new threat came from an Instagram user named “Warrenshooter.” There is a countdown with emojis of a guy holding a gun in the post.
“Our kids have to go to school, but we don’t know if they’ll make it home.” I don’t agree with that, said Amy Bowlen, whose two kids go to school in Warren Township.
A Perry Meridian High School mom says she waited 90 minutes for news after the school went into “secure status” on September 3 because of an online threat.
One of the five threats that were linked to four probes was caught because of that. The people who are suspected have all been students.
According to Perry Township, staff acted quickly to keep students safe. They also say that most of the time, kids have their phones with them or have them turned off and put away in the classroom.
“The idea is now that the school is in charge of the notification process,” Protecting the Homeland Innovations founder Todd McGhee said.
A bill that Indiana State Senator Jeff Raatz wrote and got signed into law makes it harder for students to use their phones in class. Chase Houle of 13News asked the Senator if the law should have rules for schools to follow. He said that was a bit more difficult.
“There’s an exception in there for emergency cases and honestly, these schools from my perspective and generally in the General Assembly, we try not to get too far in the weeds on how to do things because then people start thinking they, ‘Well, I didn’t do it the appropriate way’ and now we have a problem,” said Raatz.
Amy Bowlen hopes that her younger children will worry more about their grades than guns when they go to school.
“I want everyone to be safe and things like this to not happen, but ya know, we all pray for the best,” Bowlen said.