Three threats were made towards our school this week. Two of those threats were made directly towards Roseville High and some of their staff, with the other being directed towards RHS in general. Despite this, Roseville High remained open.

The first concern started with a screenshot of a message that spread on social media saying that there was going to be a shootout at a school whose initials were “RHS” on Monday, Jan. 25. The threat could have been directed towards any high school whose initials were “RHS” which made many students and parents concerned that the threat could have been pointed towards Roseville. With the screenshot of the threat being reposted and shared on social media with many students and parents in Roseville, many wondered if the school would be closing due to such a threat made. However, Roseville High still opened on that Monday, as a similar threat was made to different schools but with the school name changed, but they still took precautions.

“We had patrol officers monitor cameras and perform perimeter checks around the school,” Officer Thomas Pfeifer said.

Eventually, the threat made about the shootout to “RHS” and several other schools was found out to be a hoax and someone in another city was arrested, but it is not for certain if that person is the culprit.

The second threat made an appearance Monday evening and was directly towards Roseville High with an alleged massacre that was supposed to have happened during C lunch the very next day, Tuesday, Jan. 26. Late that night, the school made a phone call home to families to inform them that there would be school Tuesday despite the threat. The percentage of students that actually showed up to school was just over 54 percent. Leading principal Peter Hedemark to cancel C lunch.

“We didn’t need C lunch because there were so few kids here. A couple of teachers said to me that that the kids [that were here] do feel a little uneasy about the “alleged” something that was going to happen in C lunch and so it hit me, we don’t need C lunch. Let’s just eat B lunch and D lunch. There were kids that were here and I really appreciate that. I’d do anything to make them feel better,” Hedemark said.

The third threat occurred in the early morning of Thursday, Jan. 28, and named two of the principals here at Roseville High.

“We were getting reports that it [the threat] was like the other days, a nowhere lead. It’s a situation where you would be wary and alert but still go on about your day. In that message, it did name two of our beloved principals, where I feel that they are really good people and that their names shouldn’t be thrown around like that,” Hedemark said.

Despite the threats that were spread on social media between concerned parents and students, Roseville High remained open on all three days that the threats had occurred. This left many parents mad about why the school did not close and the reason why Roseville High stayed open was because the school has to evaluate the threats and work with the police department to look at how it came across. The school also has to decide if the threats were credible or not. In those cases, they were not credible threats but with people posting and reposting the post, it makes it harder for the police department to do their job.

According to Hedemark, if people really want to make a difference and be helpful, they should call the police department and the school. They should refrain from taking a message like that and just circulating it around because it makes it difficult for the police department to track down the original poster. It also makes everybody in a way culpable and makes everyone, in a way, part of the problem. If the first person that put it up was the only person that posted it, it’ll be a quicker situation to solve and it would take away power from that person.

With the threats made to Roseville High, there were different responses about attending school with the students. Some students did not come to school as they did not feel comfortable.

“I didn’t come to school because I didn’t feel that it was safe. The threats were not appropriate and if it’s a joke, it makes people worry for no reason,” freshmen Shelby Fouchey said.

However, other students did feel safe about coming to school.

“I came to school because I like school and I need an education. I didn’t care about the threats,” senior Brooke Blackwell said.

According to social studies teacher John Czech, he was not happy with the threats but he still came to school because it is his job to give an education and the police said that it was safe.