Threat to West High student reported; North High student arrested

A 16-year-old North High student was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he reportedly threatened to shoot a student at West High and then shoot up West High, Wichita police said.

Authorities learned of the threat shortly before 3 p.m. Wednesday when two West students approached a school resource officer at West and told him of the threat during a Facebook chat the night before, Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza said.

Other West High students who learned of the threat were so concerned for their safety they talked of staying home from school on Friday, Espinoza said. Officers learned that North High had dismissed classes for the day shortly before 1 p.m., so they went to the suspect’s home on Anna and found him there.

After an investigation at the house, Espinoza said, the officers confirmed a threat had been made and the teen was booked into the Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center on suspicion of criminal threat. It is the sixth school threat in the Wichita metropolitan area in the past three weeks.

“We have obligations to keep our children safe,” Espinoza said. “There are just no more innocent threats or anything like that at all. We’re going to take them very seriously.”

There’s no indication the reported threat was linked to gang activity, he said.

Three Northeast Magnet High School students were arrested Tuesday morning after a threat was posted Monday night on social media, authorities said. Additional security was sent to the school Tuesday morning, and students arriving at the school were checked with magnetic wands before being allowed to enter the building, Bel Aire Police Chief Darrell Atteberry said.

Reuben Graber, 18, was arrested Wednesday night and booked into the Cowley County Jail on suspicion of criminal threat after a bomb threat was reportedly made at Winfield High School, Winfield Police Chief Danny Parker said in a prepared statement.

The school resource officer was contacted at about 6:45 pm on Wednesday and told of an alleged bomb threat at the Winfield High School. Witnesses to this threat were interviewed and a suspect identified, Parker said. The school was searched by police and district officials, but no bomb was found.

El Dorado High School has dealt with two threats on social media in the past two weeks and a Maize middle school student was arrested after a threat earlier this month.

El Dorado High School was locked down Monday afternoon after a threat was posted on social media. A student at the high school was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of making threats of violence against the school.

The football game between El Dorado and Augusta was called off on Sept. 11 after a threat posted on Twitter indicated the game would be the target of some sort of “strike.” The game was played two days later. The incident remains under investigation.

The Maize incident involving a threat against a particular student was made on Instagram during an online debate. The boy arrested in the case has been charged with seven felony counts of criminal threat, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. A juvenile pre-trial conference is scheduled for Oct. 13.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Threat to West High student reported; North High student arrested."