Classes canceled at Yuma school after perceived shooting threat
The Yuma Union High School District canceled classes at one of its schools after a social-media post began circulating among students about a possible school shooting on Tuesday.
The district said Gila Ridge High School would cancel all classes and events on campus as a result of the threat, which has since been debunked. Police said the issue snowballed as a result of a misinterpretation of the original social-media post.
"Our number one priority without question is the safety of our students and staff," Superintendent Gina Thompson said in a statement. "In a situation like this, we are going to take every precaution to ensure that."
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Yuma police said they started receiving calls from worried parents on Monday night about a Snapchat post that referenced a possible shooting at Gila Ridge High School on Tuesday.
However, after interviewing several students, including the one who uploaded the initial post, police determined the nature of it was non-threatening.
"The investigation has revealed that after viewing and misinterpreting the original post on Snapchat, several social-media participants made a number of secondary posts with inaccurate or false information," Sgt. Lori Franklin said. "The nature of social media led to additional unfiltered and widespread distribution of misinformation throughout the Yuma community."
She added that investigators are continuing to contact students, and that they're working to identify those that spread false information.
Police said they also looked into social-media posts about the presence of weapons and ammunition at the school.
"We did actually go out and search Gila Ridge High School last night to include with a K-9, and did not find anything," Franklin said.
Since police had not concluded the investigation overnight, the district made the decision to cancel classes at the school, a Yuma Union spokesperson said.
Before the district decided to cancel classes, speculation and rumors circulated on social media about the possibility of a shooting at Gila Ridge classes, with many parents expressing concern and disbelief.
Those rumors forced Yuma Mayor Douglas Nicholls to wade into the topic on Facebook.
"As a parent, I cannot and will not tell parents to send their children to school or to keep their children home," he said. "That is a decision each parent needs to make based upon the best available information. I do want everyone to know that this is being taken very seriously, and we will get information out as soon as it is available."
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Parents at other Yuma high schools also expressed concern, but the Yuma Police Department said the threat was specific to Gila Ridge.
Franklin did not rule out the possibility of pressing charges against those responsible for spreading false information.
"It would depend on the intent of it, if their intent was to cause mayhem, absolutely," she added.
The threats against Gila Ridge High School come amid a heightened sense of alert following the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen students and staff died on campus, and a former student is jailed facing murder charges.
The shooting has renewed the debate about restrictions on gun ownership, with students who survived the shooting taking a leading role in the debate.
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