CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Casa Grande school officials are coming out of a stressful week after three separate school threats.
Officers had to respond to Cactus Middle School, McCartney Ranch Elementary School and Casa Grande Union High School for separate threats within the last week, the Casa Grande Police Department said.
Police originally responded to the middle and elementary school on Wednesday after staff reported a social media post being shared on campus depicting a message threatening students of each school.
Investigators discovered that the post was made by an 11-year-old sixth grader at the middle school, the department said. The student allegedly created the post with stock images in order to convince her friend's parents to allow her friend to skip school for the day.
That student will be charged with felony Disruption of an Educational Institution pending approval from the Pinal County Attorney's Office.
While police were investigating the social media post, staff told police that a 13-year-old eighth grader had a fake handgun. Investigators found the student allegedly purchased the gun from a local convenience store and brought it to school to show his friend.
The eighth grader will be charged with a misdemeanor Disruption of an Educational Institution pending approval from the Casa Grande City Attorney's Office.
These two incidents reportedly happened less than a week after a high school student had a firearm at Casa Grande Union High School.
"It is imperative that students are aware of the potential consequences of these types of actions," Casa Grande Chief of Police Mark McCrory said. "It is equally important that parents of our students are aware of the potential consequences, as they may possibly be held accountable for their children’s actions."
The Casa Grande Elementary School District released the following statement regarding the recent incidents:
Both the threatening post as well as the reported gun were found to not be a credible risk to the safety of students at the school. School operated as normal and all parents were notified of the two incidents...CGESD takes any threat to school safety seriously and will always work directly with law enforcement to ensure all of our students are safe at school. We are confident that our campuses remain safe and secure and it is unfortunate that these incidents continue to happen
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