Stillwater Area High School was temporarily placed on modified lockdown Tuesday morning after “possible threatening posts” were made on social media.
Oak Park Heights police worked with school district officials to determine “there was no credible threats to the high school,” Police Chief Steven Hanson said.
Investigators and the school resource officer on Tuesday afternoon were still working to determine the origin of the posts, which were made on two different social-media platforms, Hanson said. No one was arrested in connection with the posts, he said.
The school was placed in a modified lockdown as a precaution, Principal Rob Bach said in a call to families at 10:13 a.m. Additional police were called in.
Some students left school before the modified lockdown was put in place, and those absences will be excused, district officials said.
Bach shared more information in a video posted on the school district’s YouTube page. “I want to affirm that your students were safe throughout the day today while at school,” he said. “Last night, a concerning post was shared with members of our administration involving a student holding a gun. We worked last night to ensure that SAHS was secure this morning. Although the post was put on social media by a student, at no time was there evidence of a direct threat to SAHS or student at SAHS.”
Bach said he called for a modified lockdown “primarily to address uncontrolled student traffic and students leaving due to the rumors they were hearing about on social media.”
“I want to stress that had there been a credible threat to our students or staff, we would have called for a full lockdown immediately, law enforcement would have been in control of the situation, and we would be in communication with you as parents to share accurate information and details about what your next steps would need to be,” he said.
School will be open on Wednesday and additional support will be on hand to assist students who need it, Bach said. School officials “would not open school for students and staff if there was a safety concern,” he said.
While Oak Park Heights police were investigating on Tuesday, they received a report of “loud popping sounds … similar to gunshots or possible fireworks in the area of the school and nearby businesses,” Hanson said. “This was determined to be a vehicle with a modified exhaust causing a back fire sound effect. Out of an abundance of caution, there will be additional officers on site today through evening activities and tomorrow all day.”