One arrested after mass shooting threat puts KC, JoCo area school districts on alert
One person has been arrested in connection with an unspecific mass shooting threat that prompted as many as a dozen Kansas City area schools to suddenly cancel programs and activities Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the Blue Springs Police Department said.
Around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, a 19 year old was taken into custody for questioning about threats made on social media, said Blue Springs Police Chief Bob Muenz.
The suspect lives in Blue Springs and the school district was notified, prompting the school cancellation in Blue Springs and other area districts.
He was being held pending charges from the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
“There is no threat to the public,” Blue Springs police spokeswoman Jennifer Brady said in a release Wednesday.
A caller alerted Blue Springs police to threats made on social medial at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Brady said.
The caller reported a suspicious SnapChat post where a person made a threat about “killing people — mass murder.” No location was specified, Brady said.
Blue Springs police alerted the FBI of the threat on Tuesday, an FBI spokesman said.
“We take all threats of violence seriously and work with our local partners to provide resources as needed,” said Dixon Land, an FBI spokesman in Kansas City. He said Blue Springs police are leading the investigation into the threat.
The Blue Springs School District said it was canceling its summer school, Prime Time and all other school activities on Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution.”
The threat prompted as many as a dozen schools and districts, to cancel their summer school programs and close their early education sites Wednesday. Some of the districts that canceled their programs included Independence, Lee’s Summit, Lone Jack, Grain Valley, Fort Osage, Oak Grove and Odessa.
“The FBI has confirmed that the individual in question whose whereabouts are unknown is dangerous,” the Blue Springs School District said in a statement on Facebook late Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the threat put other school districts in the Kansas City area on alert, including those in Johnson County and Kansas City, Kansas.
“We are aware of the situation in Missouri related to a threat to school districts,” Olathe Public Schools said in a note to parents. “We wanted you to know that we are working closely with local law enforcement and at this time there are no threats to any of our buildings.”
The district said activities planned for Wednesday were going to be held as scheduled.
The Shawnee Mission School Distinct also said in a message on Twitter that it was aware that school districts in Missouri were closing because of the threat.
“This event appears to be localized to the Blue Springs area,” the district said. “All scheduled activities will continue today (6.15.22) in SMSD, and we will continue to monitor the situation.”
The district added that its police were aware and would be visible at its summer locations.
Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools said the district was aware of the threat and monitoring the situation.
After the arrest was announced, the Blue Springs School District said in a post on Facebook that it had been given the “all-clear” to resume summer school and school activities on Thursday. It also adjusted its summer school schedule with the last day being June 30th.
The Star’s Andrea Klick and Bill Lukitsch provided information for this story.
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 9:24 AM.
