Late Sunday night, local law enforcement along with Mountain Home Public Schools District administration were notified of a threat of violence stemming from social media.
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TRANSCRIPTION:
Heather Loftis:
Eddie, if you could just go ahead and take us back to last night, I believe, late last night, maybe around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday evening.
MHPD Chief Eddie Griffin:
That’s correct. I was contacted, notified about the threat through the night. Some of the guys were working on it, identifying people that had reposted this morning. School resource officers, investigators were assisted by the state police and have been tracking down the people that have posted it- working back to who initially reposted or made the post locally, and that’s what we’re still working on.
I will tell you that several different school districts across the state, and nation for that matter as I understand, are involved in similar investigations as we speak. We have met with the superintendent and other school officials. They take the threat extremely seriously. And even though this type of threat may be, you know, a hoax of some kind nationwide, we still have to take it as a very credible threat and work it back as far as we possibly can to ensure kids are safe here at the local level and every jurisdiction.
Every school district will be doing the same. You know, unfortunately it’s a different times and when these things happen, we have to absolutely make the the assumption that it’s credible until we can prove it is not.
Loftis:
Who’s leading this investigation here locally, sir?
Chief Griffin:
Here in Mountain Home, Larry Caruso is the lead investigator.
However, you know, all of our guys, all the investigators are working on it. School resource officers are working on it. State police is assisting us. But from the local level, the case is being handled by Larry Caruso.
Loftis:
Is it correct that the FBI is involved as well?
Chief Griffin:
Yes, from a more of a larger standpoint, not necessarily in interviewing kids here locally, but trying to identify where the threats came from initially.
Kids typically will see this first, hopefully notify their parents and as soon as we hear from it, we get on it.
Loftis:
You’ve got many nervous parents around the district this morning, what’s your message to our parents?
Chief Griffin:
Well, I certainly understand why they’re nervous, it’s nerve wracking for all of us, but we just have to work it through, see what’s going on and try to make sure that we’re keeping our kids safe.
Parents have to tell their kids what to do in a difficult situation not only at schools, but no matter where they’re at because we know history’s shown that terrible things happen everywhere. You have to have hard conversations so people understand how to react to keep themselves as safe as possible. Plus, the parents need to have conversations with their kids about the consequences of doing things wrong because I assure you that in this area here, if a kid makes a threat and we identify that they made it, and we will prosecute absolutely to full extent of the law because we can’t have all the other kids being victims and essentially every kid in the school district is a victim when that school somebody’s made a threat towards that school district
Loftis:
Parents and students will see an increased effort from law enforcement for the coming days?
Chief Griffin:
Absolutely. Well, we have a here in Mountain Home a school resource officer at every school, we’re very fortunate. We’ll have additional, all the patrol guys will be patrolling heavily, so we will be out in full force.
Loftis:
How long do you expect for this investigation to go on, sir?
Chief Griffin:
Well, hopefully by the end of the day, we can put out some information that will give a lot of comfort to the parents in the school district.
However, I really can’t say, you know, I mean, obviously I would like for it to be resolved right now. But we just have to work it all the way through and ensure everybody is safe.
Loftis:
And we know that parents and students, and there’s going to be a lot of questions in the coming days, and we want to know all the details, but it’s also important for us to remember that from school administration and law enforcement, you don’t share a lot of these details just for that purpose. People don’t need to know all the specifics so that you can do your work, not just in this case, but in the future.
Chief Griffin:
That’s correct. And, you know, I’ve seen, and I’m sure most parents… and you certainly have too- it seems like when there’s shootings or violence of any type nationwide, it kind of makes people, go out and say things, do things that aren’t very smart to create havoc in their communities and it’s just very unfortunate.
Loftis:
So do you believe this is a coordinated effort across the United States? Is that how the investigation is moving? Can you say?
Chief Griffin:
I really can’t say at this point. All I can say is, as you know, there’s several school districts, not only in the state, but the nation, that currently as we speak, are working similar threats. Know that local law enforcement, the local school district, we’re doing all we possibly can. Miss Dewey, I met with her a little bit ago and I assure you they want it resolved and to make sure all of our kids are safe as much as anybody out there.
Loftis:
Of course, you’re speaking on behalf of the city of Mountain Home, but we have other districts in the area, Yellville/Flippin that are seeing the similar situation as well.
Chief Griffin:
That’s correct.
Loftis:
All right. Thank you, sir. We appreciate your time. Keep us keep us updated as you learn more.
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