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Oak Glen student denies school threat

NEW MANCHESTER — An Oak Glen High School student has denied making a threat that put the school on edge Monday morning.

Hancock County Superintendent Kathy Kidder-Wilkerson said there has been no corroborating evidence that the male student made the threat, as reported by a female student on Friday.

“It’s a he-said, she-said. Nothing would become of it unless we can produce someone else that actually heard it,” she said. “We are questioning students that have classes with this child.”

Kidder-Wilkerson said the comment, in which one student claimed to have overheard another student say that he was going to shoot someone, came at the end of the school day and was reported to an assistant principal.

“They were unsure exactly what was said, but they thought they should report it,” she said. “The student that did report it was honest from the very beginning — that she was not sure.”

Oak Glen Principal David Smith spoke to the student’s parents on Saturday and indicated that he should not return to school until he gave a full statement to school authorities, Kidder-Wilkerson said.

In the meantime, the school is encouraging other students to come forward.

“We take every threat seriously and investigate it because you just never know,” she said. “We want children to come forward. … We are offering an open door policy if you want to come and discuss anything that you might have heard.”

On Sunday, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department posted on Facebook that law enforcement had been made aware of a “potentially dangerous situation” at Oak Glen and that it had been under investigation since Friday.

The statement went on to say there was no reason for parents to keep their children out of school and that questions should be directed to the sheriff’s department.

On Monday morning, Oak Glen students were met by three sheriff’s deputies, a state trooper and at least one member of the sheriff’s Special Response Team, Kidder-Wilkerson said.

“When parents pulled up, they were wondering what the heck was going on. The students were frightened,” she said.

Kidder-Wilkerson told the school board on Monday the incident, which caused a furor on social media, was “blown out of proportion.”

However, if such an incident occurs again, the school district will send an alert to parents via the SchoolMessenger notification system, she said.

Sheriff’s department officials could not be reached for comment.

(Huba can be contacted at shuba@reviewonline.com)

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