The South Bend School District learned of a threat that a student intended to harm other students and himself on March 14. A courageous student came forward and notified staff of the threat after hearing it during lunch. The district took immediate actions to handle the threat including calling in police and bringing the student in for questioning.
According to a press release from South Bend Superintendent Jon Tienhaara several other students also heard the threat from the student, that he intended to harm students and himself. They took immediate actions to ensure student safety and after the student was questioned by South Bend Police Chief Dave Eastham he was placed into protective custody and transported for a professional mental health evaluation.
"The student has been emergency expelled from the school until further review," Tienhaara stated. "We acted quickly and immediately got law enforcement involved. Student safety was our top priority. I am very proud of the student who came forward and notified us of the threat."
The district did not discover or have reason to suspect any weapons were on campus and believe that at no time students or staff were under immediate danger.
"Jason Nelson [Jr Sr High School Principal] called the student into his office after learning of the threats after immediately calling law enforcement," Tienhaara stated. "Chief Eastham arrived and interviewed the student for 20-30 minutes before determining he would take the student into protective custody."
He continued, "I really commend the student who came forward and made us aware of the threats. It's really important that when anyone hears anything to notify us immediately so we can handle the situation and ensure student safety."
Response from the community has been positive and those spoken with commended the South Bend School District for wasting no time and responding immediately and adequately to the threats.
No other details were available at the time of reporting. Details of the threat are being withheld due to concerns of a copycat possibility. The students identity or age will not be published out of respect for the student and his family.