"We cannot guarantee anyone's safety"

[GalvestonDuck]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/021104 ... reats.html

Threatening note has high school students and parents on edge

(2/11/04 - DICKINSON, TX) — Preppies beware -- that was the warning found in a letter at Dickinson High School. School officials aren't taking any chances and are now taking precautions after the threatening letter was discovered.

In a high school that bustles with energy, the talk on Wednesday was about threats that one group of kids allegedly made against another.

"I've had a kid come up to me and get in my face and was like, 'All preps must die' and they did it to my friend, too," said Dickinson High School senior Virginia Mata.

School officials admit they have been told of a note that was passed around earlier this week.

"There was a group of students who have put out a message that on Friday the 13th, they intend to shoot another group of students," said Assistant Superintendent Ronald Ahlhorn.

Dickinson police say they have found at least one hand-written note saying that on Friday the 13th, preppies beware. So far, the investigation of a group of kids calling themselves 'stoners' who usually dress in gothic-type clothing appears to be behind the threats. It's caused enough concern that the school has sent two kids home and made an intercom announcement Wednesday afternoon.

"We certainly take these rumors seriously and we have tried to determine where the information is," said the voice over the intercom.

"The police department is looking at what charges we can file," said Captain Steve Krone with the Dickinson Police Department. "We're looking at filing terroristic threats on the students if we can prove they are the ones who have written the letter."

Though the school has visibly increased security with extra police on campus, the rumors do have at least a few students saying they won't be coming to school the next two days.

"I don't think my mom will let me, tomorrow or Friday," said junior Disty Barnes.

"I really can't handle two absences that are going to hurt me, but I also can't handle dying," said senior Jill Marullo.

School officials say they're doing everything they can. More suspensions are possible as they investigate a group of about thirty students. They say school will continue Thursday and Friday, but they also said over the intercom that they can't guarantee anyone's safety.

[GalvestonDuck]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/021304 ... reats.html

Threat keeps more than 600 students home from local school

(2/12/04 - DICKINSON, TX) — A tense day has come and gone at Dickinson High School and police say there were no incidents of violence.

As we reported on Wednesday, there was a letter warning that preppies would die on Friday the 13th. So far, 10 students have been suspended because of the threat, four of them were arrested.

On Friday -- for a second day in a row -- there was an unusually high number of absences. Yesterday, some 400 students stayed home and today more than 600 were absent. That's more than a third.

[David]

[wx247]

How sad. I remember when our high school was vandalized. It was probably at that moment when I realized that if I wasn't safe at school, where was I safe?

[OtherHD]

Wonderful. First Brook, now Dickinson. I'm stuck in the middle...CCHS beware?

[coriolis]

Stoners, huh? And they want to legalize pot!

[streetsoldier]

And coppertop, whose own standards do NOT reflect such BS, doesn't seem to understand why we oppose his "need" for all-black, long coats and black hair dye?

Can y'all gimme a "DUH"? DUH...and DUH!

[coriolis]

Tell him that the Goths died out centuries ago. I didn't do my homework, but something tells me that the term "Gothic" is a misnomer anyway.