Over the last week, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department has been dealing with many social media online threats that allegedly target schools in the Bethel, Puyallup and Franklin Pierce School Districts.
Our School Resource Officers, along with patrol, have worked tirelessly investigating each report that comes in and we take each threat seriously. All threats have been unfounded and false. These social media posts and threats towards schools are a Nationwide problem and schools and law enforcement agencies across the Nation are experiencing similar threats.
These posts usually are a picture of a picture of a screen shot of a social media post that gets shared thousands of times and creates unnecessary fear and anxiety in students, parents and teachers.
We want to remind everyone to report unusual activity or threats to the Sheriff’s Department instead of reposting the threat to social media platforms.
Reporting VS Reposting
Reporting a threat to law enforcement and sharing valid information on where you saw the threat is very helpful! This allows us to investigate the source of the post.
Reposting or sharing a threat to warn others of the threat spreads the threat farther from it’s original source and causes unnecessary alarm and fear. Don’t repost a threat. Immediately report it to law enforcement. Many of these threats get altered and people repost with added captions. This game of telephone gets misinterpreted to something it’s not.
As always, if you see something, say something! That doesn’t mean repost! We do not want students missing important days of school due to fear and anxiety. Our kids can’t learn if they don’t feel safe.
Report NOT Repost!