KANSAS CITY —Law enforcement investigating an alleged school threat in a Kansas City area school district have made an arrest.
On Monday, police in Lee's Summit were made aware of a threatening post on social media that contained a detailed threat towards the East Trails Middle School, 1001 SE Bailey Road, in Lee’s Summit, according to a media release.
Investigators from the Police Department worked into the evening and located a juvenile suspect in the case. Contact was made with the suspect and a parent. Police took a juvenile suspect into custody.
The Police Department is thankful for the assistance given by partners with the FBI as well as our partnership with the R-7 School District to work quickly to identify and arrest a suspect in the case and keep the schools safe and free from violence.
Following the arrest, Superintendent Dr. David Buck sent a letter to parents.
Dear LSR7 Families & Staff:
Yesterday evening, East Trails Middle School and district administration, the Lee’s Summit Police Department and the FBI swiftly responded to a threatening message posted on TikTok referencing that school.
LSPD officers have since identified and made contact with a student connected to the post. That student was taken into police custody and is not in school today thanks to this quick action.
Earlier this week, we communicated to four school buildings about a vague social media threat that police were unable to corroborate. Threats like the ones we have responded to this week disrupt the learning environment for students and consume staff resources. Please help us emphasize to all students that making a threat against a public school, even as a joke, has serious legal and disciplinary consequences. We are processing this incident in full accordance with school policy and in partnership with our police partners.
These situations reinforce the importance of each and every member of our school community always reporting any threatening post or communication to our school staff and police. We will continue to encourage an environment where students, staff, and families feel empowered to report anything that might be suspicious or out of the ordinary; prompt reporting is important in enabling us to be proactive in maintaining a safe school environment. We’re grateful to the students and parents who exhibited this quick thinking this week.
Finally, if you see a social media threat, please don’t forward or repost it. Instead, take a screenshot and share it with our school administrators and police. Sharing the post makes it harder to find out who started it and slows down the investigation. Our SafeSchool hotlines, accessible on our school websites, are another way to confidentially share information with our leaders.
Thank you for your cooperation, support and patience as we make decisions to keep our students and staff safe. Please also help us thank our law enforcement partners who partner with us each and every day to support safe learning environments in LSR7.