Perceived Threat To Enfield High School Safety Unfounded: PD

ENFIELD, CT — Police and school officials responded quickly to a perceived threat posted on social media Thursday night, which ignited considerable trepidation among Enfield High School parents but turned out to be unfounded.

In a letter to the Enfield High School community, Principal Erin Clark wrote:

Good morning EHS students and families,

Yesterday evening, we received a report about a troubling social media post. This was reported to the Enfield Police Department who investigated the concern and determined there was no credible threat to school safety.

Please know that any time our school receives information that could relate to student or school safety, we investigate and address it with the utmost seriousness. Parents and students often ask me, “what is being done?” and want to know specifics about the situation and measures taken. Due to federal privacy law and student privacy concerns, I cannot share specific information. I realize that is frustrating for parents and students, but it is the law.

I understand that many of our students and families may feel a bit anxious about school safety, especially with all that is going on with the news. Please know that we take each and every report very seriously and would never risk putting staff and students in an unsafe situation.

We applaud our students, staff, and parents for reporting school and student safety concerns in a timely manner and thank our community partners at the Enfield Police Department for all their support.

Police Chief Alaric Fox said, "Late last night, Enfield High School officials alerted us to a social media post from an Enfield High School student that included a threat of self harm and veiled references to more generalized harmful behavior. Department personnel located and met with the party, and his parents. A thorough investigation caused us to conclude that there was in fact no immediate concerns for the student or the larger student population (the posting had occurred after an argument with the subject’s parents, no access to firearms, etc.). School officials were notified of this outcome and were fully satisfied. My SROs were notified and, out of an abundance of caution, extra personnel were placed at EHS today. There is no cause for alarm."