Andover Police Investigate Threats At Middle School

ANDOVER, MA — Andover Police said Tuesday that there is no active threat to students and staff at West Middle School. Police conducted an investigation after a social worker notified school administrators that a student at the school had made threats to harm others.

"Please be assured that students and staff are safe," Principal Becky Franks wrote in a note to the school community. "Classes at West Middle have proceeded as normal this morning, and police do not feel there is a danger to the community."

The Eagle-Tribune is reporting that detectives visited the home of a student after he sent a text to another threatening to "shoot up" the school. Detectives determined there was no way the student could carry out the threat. The student who received the text was the one who notified the social worker, the newspaper said. The student who made the threat is not being charged.

"We believe that the individual just needs to receive some sort of counseling for this particular threat itself," Andover police Lt. Edward Guy told the Eagle-Tribune. "It's people like this that when something clearly appears wrong or there's a possibility something could be wrong, they notify somebody — an adult — so we can make sure we do our job."

For more on this story, see the Eagle-Tribune.