Three juveniles were charged after a "hoax" threat was posted against Sylvan Hills High School earlier this week, and more arrests are forthcoming, according to the FBI.
Various online threats led the Pulaski County Special School District to close the Sylvan Hills main campus Wednesday and Thursday and to close the school's North campus Thursday. The latter, also known as the freshman academy, is 4 miles from the main high school.
The FBI announced at a news conference Friday the arrest of three individuals, but declined to provide their names, ages or other information.
Later in the day, FBI spokesman Connor Hagan confirmed that the suspects who were arrested were in the "general area of Pulaski [County]," and that one was arrested by local law enforcement officers and the other two were picked up by federal agents.
None of the three suspects have been charged with federal crimes, but the FBI is involved in the investigation, Hagan said.
"It's not a federal case, but we are working it because there is the potential for it to become a federal case," he told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Hagan said more arrests will be made, but he declined to provide specifics.
The online threat, which was posted on Reddit and a blog called Raw Confessions, has been deleted by moderators of the websites, said Jessica Duff, a spokeswoman with the school district. Screen shots of the post have been circulated on social media.
The profanity-laden post conveyed dismay over a cheating boyfriend and a "bunch of [expletive deleted] trump lovers."
It went on to state to "anyone from Central Arkansas" who attends a high school that "rhymes with silent hills" to "avoid the morning breakfast." The anonymous poster promised to "make people bleed" and mentioned his or her experience shooting a pistol.
The threats were considered severe enough by school administrators to close Sylvan Hills High School for the two days.
Linda Remele, president of the school board for the Pulaski County Special School District, said school officials are working closely with local law enforcement officials and the FBI. She called the events this week "overwhelming ... in the fact that we can't stop it."
Closing two campuses over threats was unprecedented as best she can recall, she said. Remele is a retired educator who spent nearly all of her career in Pulaski County.
"Never did we send kids home because of bomb threats," she said. "This is new territory, and we would rather err on the side of caution."
Two threats also were made against Little Rock schools this week, one day after the threat against Sylvan Hills High. In those cases, police were sent to the schools -- Little Rock Central High and eStem -- but the schools did not close. No arrests have been made in those cases, although a "person of interest" was identified in the Central High threat, which involved someone making a hoax call about a bomb, according to Little Rock police.
Cheryl May, an instructor with the Criminal Justice Institute in Little Rock, said anytime a threat is made against a school, there should be a "standard process and procedure."
The institute, which is part the University of Arkansas System, provides preparedness training for schools that are targets of violence or threats of violence. Such training is funded through a grant and is optional, May said.
Nationally, more threats are being made online, particularly on social media and on discussion forum websites. Nicolas Cruz, the suspect arrested in the Feb. 14, 2018, shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., showed violent tendencies on social media before the shootings that resulted in the deaths of 17 people. One Instagram post made by Cruz stated, "I'm going to get this gun when I turn 18 and shoot up the school," according to a state investigation commission.
May said law enforcement is becoming wiser to such threats and can detect them better.
"As technology continues to grow, it does become a challenge for law enforcement," May said. "And now law enforcement is very adept at keeping up with the technology themselves. They're developing more tools every day."
Information for this article was contributed by Cynthia Howell and Nyssa Kruse of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 02/15/2020