Suspect in custody after mass shooting threat prompts at least 8 Missouri school districts to cancel summer school classes
By Rebekah Riess and Dakin Andone, CNN
(CNN) — A suspect who allegedly made a mass shooting threat that prompted the cancellation of summer school events at least eight Missouri school districts Wednesday is in police custody, according to the Blue Springs Police Department.
“There is no threat to the public and as in all threats of violence, our top priority is to keep the community safe,” Blue Springs Police said in a news release Wednesday morning.
Charges are pending with the local prosecutor’s office, the statement said.
Police received a report around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday about a suspicious Snapchat post, the statement said, in which someone made a comment threatening “killing people — mass murdering.” According to police, a location for the threat was not specified.
In response to the purported threat, the Blue Springs School District announced Tuesday it would cancel Wednesday’s activities “out of an abundance of caution” after Blue Springs police “alerted the FBI of a possible threat related to an unspecific mass shooting.”
“The FBI has confirmed that the individual in question whose whereabouts are unknown is dangerous,” the school district, which serves more than 14,000 students about 20 miles east of Kansas City, said in a statement on Facebook.
“We believe the best course of action is to close our summer school sites and all school programming until further notice,” it said.
By Wednesday morning, seven other area school districts — including Lee’s Summit School District, Independence School District, Fort Osage School District, Grain Valley School District, Oak Grove RV-I Schools, Odessa R-VII Schools and Lone Jack School District — had followed suit.
In their own statements, some of the districts noted they did not have any information indicating the threat was related to their respective school communities. But they, like Blue Springs, opted to cancel activities Wednesday out of an abundance of caution.
The FBI confirmed it had been made aware of the threat by Blue Springs police in a statement to CNN but directed further questions to that department, which is the lead investigative agency.
“We take all threats of violence seriously and work with our local partners to provide resources as needed,” the FBI statement said.
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