Classes at Bethel Regional High School (BRHS) were canceled on the morning of Sept. 16 due to a “stay put” order issued by the school. The reason was a possible threat that spread on social media from another state.
In an email to parents, BRHS principal Alicia Miner wrote that the move was made out of an abundance of caution. The email said that the school’s safety coordinator and the Bethel Police Department had deemed the situation to no longer be a threat, and that the school would resume operations at noon, which it ultimately did.
According to Bethel Police Sgt. Daniel Watson, the threat originated on social media.
"Just after midnight, we received a call from an employee from the school district stating that they had been informed of a post speaking of a school shooting," Watson said. "The post was vague, said if your kids go to BHS, there's a threat on Snapchat and Insta, which we believe is Instagram, saying they're going to shoot the school up."
Watson said that the social media post likely came from outside of Alaska.
"There was also another post through some social media that listed Bartlett High School. One of my officers contacted Anchorage Police Department just to give them a heads up and to speak with them. They had already been made aware of the threat and had already been investigating it," Watson said. "After looking at more threads, it looks like that post came from Binghamton High School in New York state. So after speaking with Anchorage and doing all that, we've determined that threat was never in Alaska. It was something out of New York. So for now, everything's okay."
According to WETM news in Binghamton, the original social media post that eventually made its way to Alaska had been circulating around several counties in New York State in recent days.
