A note claiming someone planned to bring a gun to Waiakea High School today to “shoot everyone” is under investigation by police.
A note claiming someone planned to bring a gun to Waiakea High School today to “shoot everyone” is under investigation by police.
The handwritten threat was found Thursday in a men’s restroom on what appears to be tile. It reads: “gun in my bag and on 5-20-16 I will go to the center of the quad and shoot everyone.”
Police say it was written between 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and 11 a.m. Thursday.
Waiakea administrators notified police immediately after becoming aware of the note, Waiakea Principal Kelsy Koga said in a letter posted on the school’s website Thursday.
Koga said the threat is under investigation. Classes at Waiakea will continue as usual today, Koga said in the letter.
A Waiakea parent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her freshman son discovered the note about 11:30 a.m. Thursday while using the bathroom. Her son sent her a photo in a text message, the parent said, and then notified school security officers.
The parent said she called school administrators, who told her they were aware of the threat and were “taking care of it.” She posted the photo on Instagram to warn others. On Thursday, her phone was “blowing up” with messages from other concerned parents, she said.
“It was almost 12:30 p.m. and (the students) were getting out of school in an hour, and I wasn’t sure how parents were reacting,” she said. “It was just a heads-up, to let them know, ‘This happened over an hour ago, here’s the response I got.’ It was probably just some stupid kid who wrote this on the wall, but it’s for our children’s safety.”
The parent said she plans to keep her children home today as a precaution.
“My son, my daughter and five nieces and nephews aren’t going to school (Friday). Not at all,” she said. “You see so many of these threats. Who knows? One day, if they don’t take it seriously … something may happen.”
Koga referred questions on Thursday to the state Department of Education. DOE spokeswoman Lindsay Chambers said in an email the letter from Koga that was posted online also was sent to parents.
Police will be on campus today as an added precaution, she said.
“As far as any (continued) concerns, there’s no change to the schedule (Friday),” she said.
Chambers said schools on Oahu “dealt with the same type of bathroom threat and subsequent copycats” in March.
The Hilo police receiving desk confirmed Thursday afternoon that police responded to the threat.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune- herald.com.