Three Pasadena ISD students have been arrested and charged with terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, after district police say they were alerted by federal investigators to an online threat regarding one of the district's high schools. The students attend Pasadena Memorial and Sam Rayburn high schools, according to the district, and the arrests come just days into the new school year.
Pasadena ISD police were reportedly alerted by FBI Houston about an online threat regarding Pasadena Memorial High School, and the resulting investigation led to the arrests, according to the district. As reported by FOX 26 Houston, no other details were immediately available. The outlet's report on the arrests, credited to reporter Briahn Hawkins, cited the district as the source for the timeline of events and the charges filed.
Under Texas Penal Code § 22.07, making a terroristic threat is classified as a third-degree felony carrying two to 10 years in prison when the threat causes fear, disruption, or the impairment of public services at places like schools, or prompts emergency agencies to respond, according to Saputo Toufexis. That statute is the same charge used in prior threat cases at both campuses named in this week's arrests.
A Pattern of Threat Investigations at Both Campuses
This is not the first time Sam Rayburn or Pasadena Memorial have found themselves at the center of a threat investigation. In October 2024, a 17-year-old Sam Rayburn student was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat after allegedly threatening online to attack the campus with a shotgun and a rocket launcher, per KHOU.
Pasadena Memorial's history runs deeper still. In February 2025, an 83-year-old gunman opened fire during a band competition on campus, wounding one person before he was tackled and disarmed by off-duty officers and parents — an incident Hoodline covered at the time. Then, in June 2026, a Harris County grand jury declined to indict an 18-year-old student who had been arrested in November 2025 alongside a 10th-grader in an alleged mass shooting plot targeting the same school, as Hoodline reported in its story on a teen dodging indictment.
How the District Flags Online Threats
Pasadena ISD maintains the Anonymous Alerts mobile app alongside its districtwide “See Something, Say Something” campaign, allowing students, staff, and community members to submit real-time tips directly to school district police investigators, according to the district. Formed in 1981, the Pasadena ISD Police Department was the first specialized school district police department established in Texas, and it currently oversees an 85-square-mile jurisdiction covering more than 80 campuses and six high schools, per the Pasadena ISD Police Department.
Federal and local law enforcement agencies, including FBI Houston, have documented recurring surges in online school threats at the start of academic years, leading to heightened joint investigations into social media posts, according to reporting from the Houston Chronicle. This week's arrests, arriving just days after classes resumed, fit that broader seasonal pattern.
State Mandates and Campus Security Measures
The arrests also unfold against a backdrop of stricter state-mandated security. Under Texas House Bill 3, enacted in September 2023 following the Uvalde school shooting, all Texas public school districts are required to place at least one armed security officer on duty during regular school hours at every campus, per the Texas School Safety Center. Pasadena ISD secondary campuses also implement A.L.I.C.E. active-threat response protocols and random metal detector screenings for students in grades 7 through 12, the district says.
The heightened security comes even as Pasadena ISD faces budget pressures elsewhere. In May, district officials announced plans to evaluate facility usage and staffing levels due to declining enrollment, which affects state funding tied to average daily attendance — a challenge Hoodline detailed in its report on the district eyeing school closures. No further details about this week's threat, the students involved, or the specific nature of the online post have been released.
