Platte City Police appeared at the Platte City Middle School Friday morning after reports of a possible threat made by a student had circulated among other students, teachers, parents, and administrators.
“On Thursday night we started getting calls from the middle school principal in regard to a threat that had been made to a number of children,” Police Chief Joe McHale said this week. A student had apparently told other students he had a gun and was going to bring it to school and “do harm,” McHale said.
Police showed up at the school early Friday morning. When the student, age 12, arrived for class, he was taken into custody by police and questioned.
“The boy had just said the wrong things to the wrong people and it got back to the principal,” McHale said. He said the investigation determined the boy does not have a gun and does not have access to a gun.
“The boy and his mother were very cooperative,” McHale said. The chief said in his opinion the boy made comments after “he was tired of being picked on.”
The matter was briefly turned over to juvenile authorities, but McHale said the case is closed. He said he wants to assure parents the situation has been handled and wants to squash rumors surrounding the incident.
“There is no threat,” he said this week, adding there had been unfounded rumors of a “hit list,” among other things.
“Rest assured, we take these types of matters very seriously. Students need to be aware of that,” McHale said.