Update 3 p.m. Oct., 8, 2019: Acting Bethel Police Chief Amy Davis says the Bethel Police Department still has not substantiated the report detailing plans for a school shooting in Bethel. Davis says the report comes from a student who found a note in a school bathroom describing plans for a shooting. The student reported the contents of the note to school officials but had thrown the note away, and it has yet to be recovered. Davis has posted a Bethel police officer at the main Bethel school campus this week to provide extra security to the schools. She had already scheduled an extra police officer to be working in Bethel this week in anticipation of any trouble arising from Permanent Fund Dividend deposits.
Original story: Bethel students will see more safety officers on school campuses this week. The Lower Kuskokwim School District has alerted parents that they received an “unsubstantiated report” of a possible school shooting in a Bethel school this week.
The district is working with the Bethel Police Department to have more officers on all campuses as they investigate the report. LKSD would not say which school had the report of a school shooting, and Bethel Police did not respond for comment.
The school district also advised students to not bring their backpacks to school, saying that any backpack is subject to a random search. LKSD says that it may use metal detectors for additional safety precautions.
