What to Know
- Faculty at Somers Middle School in Westchester County found the phrase, "I am going to shoot up the school" scrawled on a bathroom wall
- The message appears to have been "a horrible adolescent prank," a school official said
- Officials believe the message was written by a student hoping to get another student in trouble
A school shooting threat was scrawled on the wall of a boy’s bathroom at a Westchester County middle school — but the message appears to have been a "horrible adolescent prank," a school official said.
Faculty at Somers Middle School, in the town of Somers, found the phrase, “I am going to shoot up the school” scrawled on the wall of a boy’s bathroom at the end of the school day on Friday, Somers Central School District Superintendent Raymond Blanch wrote in a message on Facebook.
A student’s name was written next to the statement, but officials believe the message “was written by a different student with the intent to get another student in trouble,” Blanch wrote.
Westchester police interviewed a number of students on Friday and Saturday, but haven’t been able to determine who wrote the message, Blanch said in a follow-up post on Sunday.
“While this event appears to be a horrible adolescent prank, we will not take any situation lightly,” he wrote. “We are committed to ensuring the safety of our children.”
Somers Middle School will have “additional police presence” at its campus on Monday, and staff will monitor the main entrance as students arrive, Blanch said.
