Gun threat leads to charges for three students at Massachusetts school

Superintendent Jeffrey Szymaniak reports that the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, in conjunction with the Whitman and Hanson Police Departments, investigated a post made on social media this morning, allegedly by students in the district. As a result of the investigation, charges will be made against three students at the high school.

At approximately 9 a.m.this morning, the school was informed that Whitman-Hanson students had allegedly posted a picture on social media of a threatening nature, following non-specific potential threats of violence made toward numerous school districts over the weekend. The post showed a Whitman-Hanson student holding a realistic-looking pellet gun with a caption telling people not to come to school on Monday.

While Whitman-Hanson was not specifically mentioned in the overarching threats that occurred over the weekend, out of an abundance of caution, there was already an increased police presence at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School this morning. After learning of the subsequent social media post by students, the district, along with Whitman and Hanson police, immediately began an investigation into the post.

Students and family members cooperated fully throughout the investigation, and it was determined that there was no credible threat to the school community as a result of the post.

As a result of the posting, three Whitman-Hanson students will be issued summonses to appear in juvenile court at a later date and will be subject to the district’s student code of conduct policies. Because the students are juveniles their identities will not be released.

“The district treats all issues of school safety with the highest priority,” Superintendent Szymaniak said. “We want to thank the Whitman and Hanson Police Departments for their assistance during their increased early-morning presence at the high school this morning and in investigating the subsequent social media post. I would like to assure all members of our school community that there was no threat to students or staff, and we will continue to monitor the situation as necessary.”