Update: Richland school officials say ‘concerning’ posts were not a threat to Hanford High
Richland School District staff say a “concerning and threatening series of social media posts” involving Hanford High School were misconstrued as a threat.
Richland police and Hanford High School staff became aware Tuesday of the posts, which involved a student who recently moved to the area.
“The post (the student) made included a picture of the top of a desk and a label that says Hanford High School. The statement on the post read, ‘They don’t even know.’ The statement was referring to his friends at his last school not knowing that he transferred to Hanford,” read an alert from the school sent out to Hanford families.
The post was taken out of context by another Hanford student, who said the new student was going to “shoot up” the school.
“We really appreciate everyone making us aware of the perceived danger. I assure you however that there was not a threat made to Hanford,” the alert read.
Wednesday was the 23rd anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting, where 12 students and a teacher were killed by two students, who then died by suicide. The April 20 date has become synonymous with the tragic event.
Classes were in regular session Wednesday at the high school, which has about 2,100 students.
No other details or information on the threat have been shared by Richland police.
A screenshot of a Snapchat message obtained by the Herald appeared to suggest one student believed someone was going to shoot up the school. “He seems to be very serious,” the message said.
Hanford staff said they were able to resolve the issue quickly because someone came out quickly and said something.
Since 1970, more than 1,316 school shootings have occurred, according to Sandy Hook Promise. In four out of five school shootings, at least one other person had knowledge of the attacker’s plan but failed to report it.
The perceived Hanford High threat came the same day that Kennewick police arrested a 16-year-old student with a loaded, stolen gun in his backpack at Legacy High School. No known threat was made at the school but the student was one of a group of teens shot at near a grocery store the week before.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 11:19 AM.
