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Anonymous Threat Causes Concern In Elmira

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An anonymous post made to the social media platform, Snapchat, late Sunday night has caused many Elmira parents to be concerned for their childrens' safety and some to keep their children home from school today. 

The following message appeared in the middle of the night:

Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 9.13.37 AM.png

Officials from the Elmira City School District say they have been in contact with law enforecment, who are investigating the matter. However law enforcement does not believe the threats to be credible at this time. 

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From what I'm reading, those have been all over the US with exact same wording.  Someone is playing.  

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Quote

 

The Chemung County Sheriff’s Office wants to update the public as to the school threat that was circulating on social media this morning.

On September 15, 2024, at about 11:25 p.m. the Sheriff’s Office and E-911 center began to receive numerous calls of a social media post threatening a school shooting in the Elmira City School District via various social media websites. The threat of violence on SnapChat, that was reported on Elmira Is Crazy as well as other social media sites, has since evolved to include other schools throughout Chemung, Tompkins, and Broome Counties. The reports from Chemung County have been thoroughly investigated by the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office throughout the night and all day and determined to be non-credible threats. It appears these incidents may also be related to a “swatting hoax” circulating across local counties, as well as nationwide.

We want to thank everybody who has reached out to the Sheriff’s Office, the School Resource Officers, and school personnel about these posted threats. The Sheriff’s Office worked closely with the New York State Intelligence Center (NYSIC), New York State Police, as well as SnapChat who all assisted in the assessment of these threats.

As always, we encourage you to speak to your child about these types of social media incidents, see something say something is an appropriate tool in these circumstances. We encourage you or your student to notify us of any concerns.

-SpeakUp for Safety email address speakup@el.gstboces.org

-SpeakUp for Safety phone number (voicemail or text) 607-703-2661

We want to thank our law enforcement partners within our county for their assistance during the time of our assessment. Personnel from the New York State Police, Elmira Police Department, Horseheads Village Police Department, West Elmira Police Department, and Elmira Heights Police Department, assisted us with sharing of information and conducting checks at the various schools within Chemung County. Our office maintained consistent contact with the Elmira and Horseheads School Districts, as well as the BOCES campus to ensure an open line of communication and sharing of information to assure a safe environment for everyone attending our schools.

Anytime a threat of this nature is generated, we are quickly made aware of the threat, and we continue to assess any/all threats of this nature and investigate them to the fullest extent.

If you have questions, or have further information pertaining to these threats, please call the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division at 607-737-2933.

 

 

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From what I've heard, a good number of parents decided to keep their kids home today. Probably will tomorrow as well. 

But then some people need to take a double dose of chill pills as well. If you're texting the district, asking what measures they're taking to keep students safe in light of these "threats," and expecting them to tell you, you need a follow up shot of reality. 

"Dear Ms. Complete Stranger On The Internet, why sure, we'd love to divulge our security plan in full detail. Here's how many officers are posted and where, here's what doors are locked and when, here's where someone is watching..."

Get a damned grip. 

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26 minutes ago, Chris said:

From what I've heard, a good number of parents decided to keep their kids home today. Probably will tomorrow as well. 

But then some people need to take a double dose of chill pills as well. If you're texting the district, asking what measures they're taking to keep students safe in light of these "threats," and expecting them to tell you, you need a follow up shot of reality. 

"Dear Ms. Complete Stranger On The Internet, why sure, we'd love to divulge our security plan in full detail. Here's how many officers are posted and where, here's what doors are locked and when, here's where someone is watching..."

Get a damned grip. 

Totally agree.  Kind of funny that they are using messenger to do this too.  Like someone is sitting on social media all damn day at the school district, especially with the clusterF it must have been today.

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i seen they had kids lined up at the doors at the high school this morning for a metal detector maybe

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There did appear to be heightened police presence at area schools I saw. And if it makes pople feel better, okay. But it's only for a day or two. 

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Superintendent Hillary Austin sent out the following message today:

Given the circumstances of the ongoing threats being shared on social media, The District will pilot the use of weapon detection systems at our three secondary school building entrances beginning tomorrow, Wednesday September 18, 2024 – Ernie Davis Academy (grades 7-8), Broadway Academy (grade 9) and Elmira High School (grades 10-12). The Open Gate thresholds will be used at the single point of school entrance. The system is different than traditional metal detectors as the technology is specifically designed to detect weapons. Secondary school principals will communicate specific details to their school families.

The Open Gate system was recently purchased with the intent of using them at large stadium events, etc. and to eventually expand further. We will now be piloting this system at our secondary schools and will make determinations about next steps, for our District, from there.

These devices are like those used at sporting events, concerts, amusement parks, and schools throughout the country. Here is a link to the Open Gate website so that you can learn a bit about how they work: https://www.ceia.net/security/applications.aspx

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I don't follow the local gossip FB pages much. Last week I saw a slew of screeds opposing the cell phone restrictions.....because kids "need" them if there's an active shooter. 

So, I have to assume this (un-credible) threat has only made that worse. 

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