Online Bullying Incident Sends Schulenburg ISD Campus Into Lockdown

Schulenburg ISD went on lockdown Monday morning over a threat made on social media.

Schulenburg Police detained a 15-year-old male student accused of making the threat using another student’s social media account. Police and school officials said there was never any actual threat to the school.

Schulenburg I.S.D. Superintendent Duane Limbaugh said the school received information last Thursday about a student who supposedly threatened to shoot up the school. Limbaugh said school officials immediately called Schulenburg Police and began an investigation. Limbaugh said the school officials and police determined that the student accused last Thursday did not actually make a threat. Schulenburg High School issued a statement on the school website last Friday informing the community about the investigation and that there was no threat to the school. Then on Monday morning, an alarming post appeared on social media from an account belonging to the student who was falsely accused last Thursday. The message included a photo of a urinal at the high school with the words “I have a gun.”

Limbaugh said the school went on lockdown immediately after school officials saw the post. Police came to the school and searched the student from last Thursday’s incident. Schulenburg Police Chief Troy Brenek said officers found no gun or a cell phone.

Limbaugh said school officials later learned that the student had borrowed another student’s cell phone to log into his social media account that morning. Limbaugh said the student did not log out, so the other student had access to the account. Limbaugh said that student admitted to posting the threat using the innocent student’s social media account.

Limbaugh described the incident as a case of “harsh bullying.”

“The police department doesn’t take that lightly and neither does the school,” Limbaugh said. Limbaugh said the student who admitted to making the false threat is no longer on campus. He said the student will likely face placement in a disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP), as stipulated in the school district’s policy. Brenek said the student faces a third degree felony charge for making a terroristic threat.

Schulenburg I.S.D. took some criticism on social media over the incident. Some parent’s raised concerns about the timeliness and the way in which the school notified the public.

“We’re changing our protocols to send out notifications through email and text also,” Limbaugh said. “Safety is our number one concern. Will take all threats seriously and investigate to the fullest, and if proven, we’ll take the necessary steps.”

The names of the students involved were not released because they are juveniles.