Threats to the Pennington County District Court, local law enforcement, and School District 564, in Thief River Falls that were posted on Facebook the evening of Thursday, Jan. 12, were investigated by the Thief River Falls Police Department.
Monday morning, Marissa Adam, chief of police, said they had spoken with the individual who made the threats and the information was being sent to the county attorney’s office for review. The individual has been prohibited from being on school district property.
Thursday evening, the police department was alerted to multiple threats on Facebook. Adam said only that there were multiple posts on Facebook that were of a threatening nature to the courts, law enforcement and the school district, and they were looking into it. She said there was no immediate threat to the public, and no arrest had been made at that time.
Adam said they were questioning the individual and believed the threats were the result of a family, domestic issue that may have involved a child custody issue. She added that the posts on Facebook had been taken down.
At about 8:50 a.m. Friday morning, parents in the community received an email from the school district’s superintendent, Dr. Paula Henry.
The initial email stated:
“The School District learned late last night that there was a Facebook threat to the District by an angry parent involved in a domestic dispute. The threat was made against law enforcement as well.
“Know that the District takes all threats seriously. We have been in contact with law enforcement and our attorney. Safety of your child(ren) is our number one commitment. At this time law enforcement has assured us that they are addressing the situation.”
The schools were not placed in lock down status, and remained open.
At about 11:15 a.m., the District distributed another email that emphasized that there was no threat to children:
“Earlier today, the Superintendent sent out a message regarding a Facebook threat that appeared to be made to the district and law enforcement. Law enforcement investigated the threat and determined that the schools are not and were not in danger.
“Know that the District takes all threats seriously. We continue to be in contact with law enforcement. The safety of your child(ren) is our number one commitment.
“Once again, law enforcement has assured Thief River Falls School District that they addressed the situation and found no threat to the schools in our District.”
