Centerville police arrest teen for threat of violence toward high school
News
September 18th, 2024 by Ric Hanson
CENTERVILLE, Iowa — A teen was taken into custody Wednesday morning in connection to a violent threat toward a southern Iowa school. KCC-TV reports police in Centerville were called to investigate a tip about a threat of violence toward Centerville High School that was found written on a table Tuesday. Officers found evidence and received tips from the public that led to a suspect. A 17-year-old was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with threat of terrorism, a Class D felony.
Centerville police thanked the public for providing aid and noted the use of Safe + Sound Iowa, a website that collects anonymous tips about school threats and relays them to local law enforcement.
Police have not publicly identified the teen who was arrested.
Here is the letter Centerville Schools posted on social media with regard to the incident:
“Parents and Community Members,
Today the school was made aware of graffiti written on a classroom table at CHS that threatened school violence. It is our belief that you can’t be too safe when it comes to school safety issues and that any issue, no matter how small it may seem to some, should be investigated as though it were credible until you learn otherwise. Upon learning of this graffiti and the threat it contained, our administrative team immediately began to investigate the graffiti, the statements contained therein, and the individuals involved.
After our investigation today, we believe there to be no credible threat to the safety and security of our campus and our students at this time. We have asked Centerville PD to review our investigation and to provide additional support to CHS in the next couple of days to help ensure safety and security for all. We appreciate so much that Chief Demry and his team are always so ready and willing to ensure the safety of our students and staff.
Through the investigation conducted today, we have determined that an important additional piece of re-training that we will do again this fall with our students and staff is to continue to call for a “see something, say something” approach to any concerns related to school safety. We ask that anyone who hears of or sees a safety concern report the concern to any member of administration or through the “Iowa Safe + Sound” tip line at 1-800-224-6018.
We greatly appreciate those who communicated with the administration about this threat both in person and via the Iowa Safe + Sound tip line so that we could properly investigate to ensure the safety of all. As always, school safety is the most important work that we do and we appreciate the vigilance of members of our community, especially our law enforcement partners, in helping to ensure that our school remains safe for all members of the learning community. Thank you for your efforts to help us and please never hesitate to contact us if you have information that could be helpful to us in ensuring school safety.
Mark Taylor
Superintendent“
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