This year, Valentines Day was not a day of love. It was a day of fear, death, and sadness for Parkland, Florida and the entire nation.  Since gunman Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students at Stoneman Douglas High School, many students and parents all around the nation have been filled with sadness and fear about the situation; however, some students have taken a rather heartless approach to the violent event that took place last month. Several copycat threats have occurred since February 14 around the nation, bringing on more fear for students, teachers, and parents.

According to The Daily Mail, at least 38 threats to students and teachers have been recorded in 20 states.

Ohio

A 7 grader killed himself in the bathroom at school instead of acting out his plan to commit mass murder at his school. Police have also received tips that he was not the only one who brought a gun on campus that day.

At the same school in Ohio, a student posted a Snapchat story saying that there will be a shooting at school the next day. She used it as a ruse because she did not want to have to take a test at school the next day.

Florida

Still traumatized by the massacre on the at Parkland, Floridians have seen a number of threats since then.

A Miami teenager posted a mirror selfie holding an automatic rifle on his Snapchat with the caption: “Here’s a fat FU to everyone.”

A 15-year-old girl threatened Space Coast High School in Cocoa, FL with a social media post of a man holding rifle with the caption, “I’m coming to Space Coast watch out,” and another reading, “Florida round 2 tomorrow.”

Another serious situation broke out when a boy from Palm Beach Lakes High School brought two guns to school the day after the Parkland shooting. Police were tipped off and at the scene immediately; however, he dumped the weapons at the spot and ran from the cops. He was later arrested.

Texas

Our home state of Texas has seen six threats since the Valentine’s Day shooting.

“It is extremely terrifying the threats like these have been made so close to our school. It makes me really appreciate having a police officer on campus now,” Lauren Newton ’18 said. A 13 year-old boy from Arlington was arrested the day after the Parkland shooting after he threated to shoot up Nichols Junior High.

A 16-year-old from Plano brought at handgun to Plano West Senior High School and was immediately arrested after police were tipped off about the situation.

A recent threat was made on February 26 when a teenager threated Sam Rayburn High School on Snapchat. The next day, parents lined up outside of the school in panic to pick up their children from school. The menace behind it was arrested.

“It is sickening that people can act like this and make these threats after the event that occurred in Parkland. It just shows that something like this can happen anywhere and it’s so scary,” India Fore ’18 said.

FWCD is serious about keeping students and teachers safe on our campus. We now have a cop on campus full time, required falcon stickers to identify student and parent vehicles, and several lockdown drills.

Starting in February 2017, working first with the full faculty and staff, and then through the fall of 2017, FWCD has provided three separate trainings. We have had the benefit of Officer Paula Gibson, the Fort Worth Police Department’s expert on active shooters.

“While we, of course, hope we never need layer three of our safety nets, it is obviously incumbent on us to train for the worst-case,” Head of School, Eric Lombardi, said.

It is never easy to consider a shooting possible on our campus; however, being prepared for the worst and learning what to do in tough situations is something we will continue to do.