Casper students, faculty, staff and community are safe after false threats were made to two Casper schools Friday morning.
At 9:10 am, Casper Police responded to a report of a suspicious person at Natrona County High School, located at 930 South Elm Street. The anonymous student reporting system, Safe2Tell, notified law enforcement of a report that a suspicious person with a firearm was on the school campus.
The school was immediately placed on a lockout and students, staff and faculty were advised to shelter in place. Casper Police and local Natrona County Law Enforcement immediately began to clear the building and campus of any threat. No substantiated threat was found.
At 10:45 am, officers cleared Natrona County High School, the lockout was lifted and school operations proceeded.
Shortly before 10:40 am another unrelated report warranted Casper Police Officers to respond to Casper Classical Academy, located at 900 South Beverly Street. The report of a potential threat to the school resulted in a lockout while officers cleared the building and campus. No substantiated threat was found.
These incidents are believed to be unrelated and both are still under investigation by the Casper Police Department.
In relation to the threat made to Natrona County High School, through efficient investigation a person of interest was identified. This individual admitted to making the false threat to Natrona County High School through Safe2Tell which warranted the school lockout and law enforcement response. The juvenile was arrested by Casper Police Officers around noon on Friday, October 18th, 2019 on one felony count of making terroristic threats.
The Casper Police Department has no tolerance for individuals who make false reports. These false reports cause unnecessary and undeserving feelings of danger within our community, they use valuable resources of first responding agencies and they must be taken seriously and charged accordingly.
Safe2Tell is an online reporting platform that allows students to confidentially report anything that concerns or threatens the reporting party, friends, family or the community.
The Casper Police Department would like to thank the Natrona County School District for their focus on school safety. It is with this strong partnership that schools in Casper are and continue to be safe.
We would also like to thank the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office for their partnership in responding to these incidents.
The Casper Police Department is dedicated to the protection and safety of our community through the highest standards of professionalism in police services.