By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
The Carter County school system’s police chief, R.D. Porter, had a few sleepless nights last week. It all started when he received a call that threats of a shooting at West Carter Middle School were being shared across social media. Threats that ultimately proved to be false – and related to another school district in Batavia, Ohio. But, not before inducing panic in parents and family members across the district and prompting a response from the district about the importance of sharing threats with the police – not across social media.
Porter explained that after receiving the first report he reviewed the social media post and noticed a few things about the video grab, which stated that someone in Michigan was threatening to “shoot up WCMS.” The first was an abundance of Bengals, Reds and UK memorabilia in the background, which put it in our general region. But amongst that was something more specific – gear branded with the term “Wolf Pack.”
That detail ended up being the key that helped Porter work out the source of what turned out to be a hoax; one with very long legs, stretching back to January of last year.
The Wolf isn’t a local mascot. Our WCMS teams are, of course, the Comets. But Porter was able to find another WCMS with a wolf as their mascot. West Clermont Middle School, in Batavia, Ohio, are the Wolves. From there he reached out to the Clermont County Sheriff’s office to make them aware of the threat.
The local department took the call seriously, looking into it before ultimately informing Porter that it appeared to have been related to an unsubstantiated threat their local school district received in January 2023.
In that case messages shared between an 11-year-old Batavia girl and an 11-year-old boy in Muskegon, Michigan – in which he threatened to bring a gun to her school – made their way to a community Facebook page. From there the Clermont County police investigated and contacted the Muskegon Heights police department, who confirmed with his family that the young man had no credible access to firearms or means to travel to Batavia, Ohio. While the investigation of the case in Michigan was left to those departments, the young girl involved in the West Clermont case was arrested by the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office and transported to the juvenile detention center on a charge of inducing panic.
A deputy with the Clermont County Sheriff confirmed on Monday afternoon that there have been no recent threats in their school district, and that they believed it was indeed possible the local panic in Carter County was caused by irresponsible reposting of those old screen grabs in the Clermont County case.
Whether the misinformation was shared inadvertently, or maliciously, the result was the same – and if students participate in the sharing of this kind of misinformation, they could find themselves in serious trouble, just like the young lady in Batavia.
On the morning after the threat was received, Porter said, they increased police presence at West Carter Middle School as a simple precaution, even though they had already determined the true origin of the messages.
On Thursday, school principals read a letter to students from superintendent of schools, Dr. Paul Green, a version of which was also sent home to parents. In addition to reassuring parents and students of the safety measures in place (including a five person school police district and locked exterior doors with metal detectors), the school noted their commitment to taking full disciplinary action, up to and including pursuing charges against anyone who incited panic by spreading false information.
“Our approach to eliminating terroristic threats in our school and district is strong and unwavering, and as a result, you must discuss this critically important matter with your student as soon as possible,” the letter reads. “School and law enforcement officials are determined to put a halt to these willful acts of terrorism. Please do your part to ensure that your child never becomes a party to such an offense by educating him/her on the seriousness of its consequences.”
The letter then notes that the KRS definition of second degree terroristic threatening includes, “mak(ing) false statements by any means, including by electronic communication for the purpose of,” causing school buildings, property, or activities to be evacuated, causing cancellation of classes or activities, or “creating fear of serious bodily harm among students, parents, or school personnel.” (KRS 508.078)
The penalty for second degree terroristic threatening includes up to five years in prison, and fines of up to $10,000.00.
Porter urged anyone who received or saw such a threat in the future to immediately contact law enforcement, and not to share it over social media.
The people who contacted him, he said, did the correct thing. It allowed him to check it out and determine it wasn’t a legitimate threat. But those who shared it on social media without confirmation contributed to the sense of panic and negatively impacted the educational experience for school children, including those whose anxious parents – understandably – erred on the side of caution and pulled them from classes for the day.
Porter also emphasized the importance of reminding students that threats of violence are not a joke, and will have real consequences.
The Carter County event occurred just before a pair of students were arrested in relation to threats made against Ashland area schools earlier in the week, and before twelve-year-old juvenile male was arrested and charge with third degree terroristic threatening in Louisa. In the Kentucky State Police (KSP) release on the Ashland threats – which have now resulted in three total arrests – the KSP noted that threats made directly towards a school are considered first degree terroristic threatening, a class C felony punishable by five to ten years in prison.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
