Syracuse High School Students Received Shooting Threats ‘Using Racist Language’
Students received racist shooting threats at three high schools in Syracuse, New York.
Syracuse.com reports students at Corcoran High School and Henninger High Schools, both in Syracuse, New York, received violent threats via text message. The messages said a shooting would occur at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 and used “racist language,” according to Lt. Matthew Malinowski, a spokesperson for Syracuse police. The exact language of the text messages were not revealed.
More police patrolled the schools.
Additional threats were made to students at East Syracuse Minoa High School on Sunday, Sept. 25, which caused the school to implement remote learning the following day. The district also installed a new weapons detection system at the high school's main entrance.
The messages were sent in the early hours of Sunday, Sept. 25, hours after the school’s homecoming dance. Fights broke out at the dance, but it’s unclear if the shooting threats were related. East Syracuse Minoa Central School District Superintendent Dr. Donna DeSiato said in a statement, “The threat, which included racist sentiments, was texted to a student, who posted it on social media. The district is fully investigating all of these actions, as are members of law enforcement. While we are prevented by law from commenting on individual student discipline, please know that the district will certainly exercise its significant disciplinary responsibilities and options in response to these incidents.”
As of Sept. 26, police do not know the origins of the racist and violent messages, but they are investigating.
