PHOENIX — At the start of the academic year, dozens of valley schools were placed on lockdown because of threats.
It seemed like it would happen every day and according to numbers released by the Phoenix Police Department, it's not that far off.
A spokesperson for Phoenix Police says there were 53 recorded threats against schools or staff from Aug. 11 to Sept. 6.
Within one week, Phoenix officers and other law enforcement departments across the state responded to various incidents.
- Phoenix police responded to a social media threat made toward Central High School. After officers determined the threat to not be credible, the school was taken off its lockdown procedures.
- Phoenix police responded to a threatening note found by a student at the Archway Classical Academy Veritas campus near 54th Street and Thomas Road. The school canceled classes due to the threats and two students were detained by police.
- The Mohave County Sheriff's Office investigated threats of a possible shooting at a school in Kingman. Detectives found nothing to substantiate the alleged threats, MCSO said.
- A student at Mesquite Junior High in Gilbert was found to be in possession of a BB gun. Gilbert police said they were submitting charges of disorderly conduct against the student to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
- The Cochise County Sheriff's Office found a 7-year-old to be in possession of two firearms and ammunition at school on Monday.
- A Prescott Valley Charter School student admitted to threatening to "shoot-up" their school last week, claiming they were coerced into making the threat by another student.
- Police confiscated a gun from a student at Legacy Traditional School's Queen Creek campus.
"We'd experienced in four days, three threats," said Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Lt. Ryan Neville. "All of them didn't have the capability of following through on these threats."
In their investigations, Lt. Neville says the majority or not credible.
"It's run the gamut between students that are just looking for their social media clout or to stir up the controversy to something is trivial is like trying to get the day off of school," he said.
Still, law enforcement can't risk the chance of a threat being not credible.
"It's important to understand that we number one, recognize the seriousness of these kinds of things and we're going to throw every available resource that we have at him," Lt. Neville said.
However, it creates a ripple effect. If deputies and officers are investigating one of these threats that could last hours, other calls may get delayed.
"Burglary calls, criminal damage, threats, civil disputes, these kinds of things, it's going to draw those resources away from that," he said.
Calling on parents to keep a close eye on their kids and their social media posts.
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