3 central Indiana districts cancel school due to threats

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Three suburban Indianapolis school districts decided Thursday to cancel classes after receiving or learning of threats.

A Johnson County district said classes on Friday, the last day before holiday break, would be canceled because it received a "serious" threat Thursday afternoon. And in Hendricks County, police were searching Thursday for an unknown person who posted threats on Facebook and prompted two school districts to cancel classes for more than 7,000 students on their last day before break.

Authorities in all areas were still investigating as of Thursday afternoon. Here's a look at each district's threats:

Franklin

Several threats have been leveled this week at the Franklin Community Schools, located about 20 miles south of Indianapolis.

On Monday and Wednesday, two threats that included a drawing of a gun and the words "shoot up the school" were found in a boys' bathroom at Franklin Community High School.

On Thursday, the school was placed on lockdown and after-school activities canceled. It did not say why it did that, though the Johnson County Daily Journal quoted Superintendent David Clendening as saying police dogs were searching the school after a caller reported a homemade bomb in a locker room area.

The district said in a statement that the validity of the threat it received Thursday afternoon remained in question, but it canceled classes on Friday anyway.

A phone message left for a district representative was not immediately returned.

The district, which has about 5,000 students, will resume classes Jan. 5.

Danville

Before the online threats that led to its district cancellations were posted, Danville Community High School was on alert due to separate incidents of threats by students, both of whom were arrested early Thursday.

A classmate overheard a 14-year-old freshman saying on Tuesday that he was "going to get a gun and shoot the place up," according to Danville Police Chief William Wright. Then, a 17-year-old sophomore, after learning of the freshman's arrest, posted a threat on Facebook saying "you can't stop us all," Wright said.

The third individual apparently made the Facebook postings that spurred both the Danville district and the Plainfield district, both of which are in Hendricks County, just west of Indianapolis, to cancel classes.

Danville Community School Corporation Superintendent Tracey Shafer said the Facebook threat was believed to be "from a much different source" than the 17-year-old student, and Wright said the closings were "a precautionary measure while we're trying to determine if the threat is credible."

Classes in the Danville district, which has roughly 2,500 students and is about 20 miles west of Indianapolis, will resume as scheduled on Jan. 4.

Plainfield

Plainfield police said in a statement that the agency received information late Wednesday night about social media postings, which directly mentioned "Plainfield High School students."

The Plainfield Community School Corporation has about 5,000 students and is located about 15 miles west of downtown Indianapolis.

Officials said they were working "to identify who is responsible." The department did not immediately return messages seeking additional comment.

FBI Special Agent Wendy Osborne said the federal agency was assisting with the investigation of the threats at the Plainfield and Danville school districts, and that its assistance has not been requested by the Franklin district. Osborne said she could not discuss the ongoing investigation.

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Associated Press writer Ken Kusmer contributed to this report.

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