Middle School Parents Advised of Student’s Threats

Yesterday afternoon, parents of children who attend MacDonald Middle School were contacted by email by Associate Principal John Atkinson, told, “It was reported to the administration that a student was heard speaking about a list of students they wanted to ‘kill.’ The student also allegedly made comments about having access to firearms.”

ELPS administration moved in to manage the situation, and this morning ELi spoke with East Lansing Deputy Police Chief Steve Gonzalez to learn how this case is being handled, and how these kinds of threats are managed in East Lansing.

According to Associate Principal Atkinson’s email to parents yesterday, in this case, “The student was immediately isolated by [the school’s] administration. Parents of the students that were allegedly on this ‘list’ were notified as quickly as possible.” Atkinson said administrators were working with the student’s parent, ELPD, and mental health professionals and that, “We are confident that we have the situation under control and all [the school’s] students are safe.”

Deputy Chief Gonzalez explained this morning by phone that their investigation indicated this appeared to be a “spur of the moment” threat. Said Gonzalez, “We didn’t think he had planned this out…. He was upset and made these comments.”

That said, “The caveat is we always try to err on the side of caution, so even when someone blurts something out or writes something on a bathroom wall, we take it seriously and look into it pretty deeply.” In general, these cases are not sent for prosecution. The district manages “the disciplinary side of things” and engages the school counselors.

As for the police, Gonzalez says, “We will make sure the school is safe. We put in any additional security measures” deemed necessary.

Gonzalez (above) notes that “There are usually back stories” in these cases, and this is why it is useful to have an ELPD officer assigned as a School Resource Officer (SRO).

As ELi’s Ann Kammerer recently reported for our readers, Officer Steve Whelan has been serving in that role for over a decade. Being embedded in the high school allows him to develop relationships with students and to get to know the issues and tensions that are specific to each year’s class.

The SRO spends most of his or her school time at the high school, but if there’s an issue at another school that requires a police officer, according to Gonzalez, the SRO is “the first person they will call or we will send over,” whether that’s at the middle school or an elementary school.

Whalen (above) is wrapping up his job as SRO in August and then returning to regular patrol duty for ELPD. Says Deputy Chief Gonzalez, what happens next is “one of the big questions around here. At this point in time, that position has been eliminated through the budget process.” The police administration is hoping to restore it.

Says Gonzalez, if ELPD cannot afford to have an SRO, it will fall to the patrol division and detective bureau to handle cases like the one that arose yesterday at the middle school. “Obviously these would get priority” over other calls, says Gonzalez.

“But the SRO has, by nature of their job, the ability to have an intimate knowledge of who is who in the school. They can bring a depth to working these cases effectively to determine if a threat is credible, to determine what the Police Department needs to do to ensure the safety of the school.” Says Gonzalez, “That is harder with patrol officers and detectives who are assigned to a lot of other cases.”

The ELPD has done advance preparation for threats to school safety, and has what Gonzalez refers to as “a playbook of best practices” to draw from. “Based on the severity and specifics of the incident, criminal charges could be issued by the Ingham Prosecutor's Office and ultimately handled by the appropriate court.”

But, “It's important to note that not all threats rise to this level and the decision whether or not to refer for prosecution is made on a case by case basis. Of course, this is all aside from any disciplinary action the district may take.”

Asked for comment, ELPS Superintendent Dori Leyko told ELi by email, "Our middle school administrators managed the situation [yesterday] quickly and appropriately. After the situation was managed, they communicated with their families in an effort to be transparent and ensure that communication lines are open."

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