Instagram user threatens Lamar

A gun threat, that principal Andy Hagman and the Arlington Police Department believed to be non-credible, alarmed Lamar on Friday, Aug. 19, during the first week of school.

Students and parents were the first to catch word through an Instagram post.  They took the action to notify Hagman, who notified the Arlington Police Department about the threat.  While it wasn’t seemingly credible, campus security was increased and staff, students and parents were immediately notified.    

“You can’t take anything for granted,” Hagman said. “You can’t take chances at all with stuff like this.  So I was in the mind-set of, ‘it’s probably not anything to worry about, but we are still going to do what needs to be done in order to ensure the safety of all our staff and our students.’”  

The person believed to have posted the threat, who was also not affiliated with any AISD location, was detained the same day.  Hagman prominently said the fake threat against the school will come with real consequences.  One of which included a felony for terroristic threat.

“I really appreciate people’s thoughtfulness and support when we have events such as these,” Hagman said.  “The people in the building, the staff, the students and the parents, just them having hope that we will keep them safe means a lot.  The trust and level of communication was overwhelmingly positive… they know we will always act with safety first.” 

While the gun threat was efficiently handled, some students and teachers remained uneasy.  Attendance the day of the event was noticeably low.  Hagman said the lack of attendance disrupted classes as teachers were unable to provide a full lesson to all (or most) of their students.  Additionally, some of the people who did attend school were in a state of worry.  

“It’s really sad to say that I’m just not surprised at all by the threat,” senior Anka Oberhelman said.  “I definitely know this threat isn’t the last, and I know it wasn’t necessarily reliable either, but it still felt surreal seeing half of my classmates gone.  That’s what made me so worried.  That’s what made me doubt my well-being.”