A week ago, a thread of threats against Tucson schools began to surface. Multiple students were arrested and some were even charged, including an 11-year-old student attending Elvira Elementary School who was arrested for threatening to shoot up the school. TPD says that there was no true intent to harm anyone, but was meant to incite fear. Since the beginning of this month, there have been six arrests. Over 100 school districts across Arizona were sent threats. Threats typically stem from two places, either current students and former students or the threats stem from other states and are sent here.

In an interview, school safety expert, Dr. Kenneth Trump stated, “Unfortunately it’s very normal to have a contagion effect of threats across the country after a major school shooting.” The most recent school shooting was on September 4th, 2024, and left 2 students and 2 teachers dead. This tragic shooting left the nation shaken and parents scared for their children’s safety, which empowers foolish people looking to scare parents and students further and cause disarray.

On September 16, 2024, one-third of TUSD students were absent due to the ongoing threats.

TUSD has 87 schools and 41,430 students on Monday, September 16th, roughly 13,810 were absent and many more were signed out midday. On the 18th a series of threats sent Compass High School, a non-TUSD school, into lockdown. The lockdown was later lifted when TPD deemed the threats unsubstantiated.

TPD strongly recommends that people report the threats rather than sharing them. This is to prevent widespread panic. Don’t share, REPORT!