Police urge public not to share school threats

El Paso Police are urging the public not to share school threats made on social media because it depletes police resources and makes it more difficult for police to investigate.

Police said four arrests have been made after 13 recent school threats, which started after the school shooting in Florida.

“People are not reporting the threats directly to law enforcement,” a police spokesman said, “The same post can be copied and then the school has changed and the number of threats has been be multiplied because the threat is being forwarded. That needs to stop.”

Police said making a school threat is a very serious offense. Offenders can be charged with making a terroristic threat or making a false threat.

El Paso Police is working with the FBI, area school districts and other law enforcement agencies to safeguard the wellbeing of students, officials said during the news conference.

Ysleta ISD superintendent Dr. Xavier De La Torre said the attendance rate at some district schools plunged “significantly” after recent threats. The district will petition to have the lost attendance revenue restored, De La Torre said.

Four YISD schools were among the six schools to receive threats, police said.