West Fargo Police Chief says suspect not identified in online middle school threat

(West Fargo, ND) -- The Superintendent of West Fargo Public Schools expects in-person learning to resume Wednesday morning at Cheney Middle School, after the school was closed Tuesday because of a shooting related threat directed at the school posted to social media Monday night.

West Fargo Police Chief Dennis Otterness says the department began investigating the threat Monday night after the department took several calls from concerned parents and students.

"After receiving the first complaint, a number of additional complaints were received from concerned parents and students.  A number of these reports were made directly to West Fargo Police Department School Resource Officers from several different schools within the West Fargo Public Schools," said Chief Otterness. 

As of 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, the department had not announced any arrests in the case, and did not have any information regarding the identities of potential suspects.

Chief Otterness said the threat was taken seriously because it was specific regarding a time, a location and means.

Otterness said the threats were made via Snapchat and Google, but would not provide more details on how Google was used.

The Chief also expressed frustration that as of mid-afternoon Tuesday, Google had not responded to the department's request for assistance in the case.

The Chief also indicated enhanced security measures were put in place at all schools in the district, but would not provide specific details.

Superintendent Slette said counseling support and other resources were being made available to students, staff and teachers.

She also reminded parents to talk with their children about the threat, and said schools remain "very safe" environments. 

"When threats like this are made it is important to remember that schools are still statistically one of the safest places for students to be according to the FBI and National Institutes of Justice," said Slette. 
  
Students were also encouraged to report anything suspicious to parents and school staff.  

Initial report:

Cheney Middle School remote today after threat