Police took two students from Northwest ISD into custody on Wednesday after parents told officials about a document with threats against students and teachers.
A parent raised concerns with the district after finding an online document detailing a planned attack on students and staff, according to a statement from Northwest ISD, WFAA reported.
The document, which was shared among some students, included a “watch list” of targets and a plan to attack 25 students and seven staff members at Wilson Middle School.
The district stated that the document resembled similar terroristic threats at schools nationwide, according to WFAA. Northwest ISD notified the people listed on the “watch list,” which apparently was created by multiple students.
The district said in a letter to families and employees that “All students involved in the creation and modification of this document will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Rebecca Combs told WFAA, “It’s not worth the stress, it’s not worth his life.” She chose to keep her child home from school on Thursday.
She mentioned, “It’s alarming. I don’t think I’m going to send him to school the rest of the year.”
According to a district spokesperson speaking to WFAA, 14% of students were absent from class on Thursday.
The district has arranged for extra security and counselors for the remainder of the school week.
“Northwest ISD is partnering closely with the Fort Worth Police Department for an ongoing investigation of the situation, and we are grateful for their support,” the district said, per WFAA. “We are also appreciative of the parent who alerted us of this concerning document, as that allowed us to immediately respond. Our district values transparent communication, and we will continue to keep families informed about the process of this investigation as new details become available.”
The two students were arrested in connection with the document and are facing felony charges, according to NBC 5 DFW.
Fort Worth police are asking anyone with additional information to contact them at 817-392-4222.
A similar threat happened at another school in Tarrant County this week, as covered by The Dallas Express. Carroll High School and Carroll Senior High School were closed on May 1 due to a reported threat.
The threat came in the form of a message written on a bathroom stall door that referred to the STAAR test and a potential school shooting, per a news release from the Southlake Police Department.
The threats follow a recent school shooting at a Dallas ISD campus, which prompted students and community members to call the district out for its purportedly lax safety measures, as previously reported by DX.
