Law enforcement investigating threatening messages shared at Albion Middle School
ALBION — The school district and law enforcement are investigating threatening and inappropriate messages shared among a small group of middle school students through an on-line gaming app, the school district said in a letter to the Albion community on Wednesday.
Students who were involved in the original messages have been removed from school pending completion of the investigation and completion of disciplinary action by the school, Michael Bonnewell, district superintendent, wrote in the letter.
The district’s Threat Assessment Team – with assistance from the Albion Police Department, Orleans County Mental Health Department, Orleans County District Attorney’s Office and a specialist from the FBI – are working on the situation.
“The safety of our students remains our highest priority,” Bonnewell said in the letter. “This case has been the sole activity of many of our school staff as well as of partners on the Threat Assessment Team,” he wrote. “We are grateful to those students and parents who have shared information they have regarding this or any other possible safety issue.”
The school superintendent said the district welcomes anyone in the community to share information about safety concerns by contacting the appropriate school building or his office.
The district can’t share more details about the situation at this time, he said.
“We will continue to share information as the law permits, recognize your frustration that we can’t share more, but appreciate your understanding that, as we address the problem, what we are able to say is governed by federal and state laws,” he said.
