Three students at West Warwick High School have admitted involvement in a threatening message discovered at the school Thursday, and police say their investigation turned up no credible or ongoing danger to students. The admissions close out a tense stretch for the Rhode Island district, which says it has now investigated three separate threats across its schools in just a few weeks.
According to turnto10.com, West Warwick police completed their investigation and determined there was no credible threat of violence tied to the incident and no ongoing credible threat afterward. Investigators reportedly uncovered a group chat in which students discussed ways to disrupt school and cause it to close Friday, including writing threats inside a bathroom. The same report, also cited by WLNE-TV (ABC6), says school administrators and police interviewed students and followed district protocols throughout the process.
The district said all three students received school disciplinary consequences consistent with district policy and applicable law, though it withheld specifics, citing student privacy protections. The update did not announce any criminal charges. Earlier Friday, before the admissions came in, investigators had been unable to identify who actually wrote the message, the outlet's report notes.
A String of Threats Across West Warwick Schools
The high school incident was one of three threats West Warwick schools have investigated in recent weeks, the district said, with the other two occurring at the middle school and being deemed not credible. Officials said they had no reason to believe the three incidents were connected. The superintendent said investigators found no evidence of an actual plan to carry out the high school threat.
Those two middle-school incidents come against the backdrop of other recent safety scares in the district. Separately, a live bullet was found in the girls' locker room at John Deering Middle School, according to West Warwick Public Schools, as reported by wpri.com. Police said a female student would face a criminal charge in Family Court for allegedly bringing the bullet to school, though the district emphasized that all students and staff were safe, the bullet was contained, and no weapons were found.
District Plans More Checks, More Visible Police Presence
Moving forward, the district said it plans to increase checks of vacant school bathrooms to look for additional messages and help identify whoever may still be responsible, per the same account. Police were scheduled to be present at the high school seniors' barbecue that weekend, and the district has said it plans a more visible police presence at the high school to reassure students, families and staff.
School threats tend to cluster around certain points in the academic calendar. The FBI has said it almost always sees an uptick in threats when school starts and again near the end of the school year, according to kare11.com. The bureau has also noted that although a high percentage of threats come from so-called howlers who lack the intent, opportunity or capability to carry them out, investigators still take every one seriously.
Similar Scares Have Hit Other School Districts
West Warwick is far from alone in grappling with this kind of disruption. In Minnesota, two threats against Lakeville North and South high schools were discovered on a Tuesday, prompting the district to keep high school students home the next day before planning their return that Thursday, kare11.com reported. Police there cleared both schools and found no guns or explosives after the threats were reported anonymously online.
What Rhode Island Law Says About Student Discipline
Rhode Island law sets specific limits on how districts can respond to disruptive conduct. Under state statute, an out-of-school suspension may not be served unless a student's conduct meets defined standards or the student represents a demonstrable threat to students, teachers or administrators, according to the Rhode Island General Assembly. State law also recognizes that every student, staff member, teacher and administrator has a right to attend or work at a school that is safe, secure, conducive to learning and free from the threat of physical harm by a disruptive student, per the Rhode Island General Assembly's statute on school safety.
The superintendent thanked the student who first reported the West Warwick High School message, saying that reporting it to an adult allowed officials to act. At the same time, the superintendent acknowledged that the police findings did not erase the fear or frustration felt by students, families and staff, and urged parents to talk with their kids about the seriousness of threatening statements, including those made in group chats and text messages. Threatening words cause real fear and carry serious consequences even when intended only to disrupt school, the superintendent said. School counselors remain available to students who need support, and families can contact their child's school to connect with counseling services.
