Threat Against Horace Greeley High School On Twitch: UPDATE

UPDATE — School and police officials reached out to the Chappaqua community Thursday morning over the Amazon Twitch threat posted on Christmas against Horace Greeley High School.

The New Castle Police were contacted by Amazon security at 2:55 p.m. Wednesday about an expired threat made against Horace Greeley High School, police said. The threat was that there would be a school shooting on December 26, 2018. The investigation determined that the threat was made through an online gaming website.

Police said they do not not feel this was a credible threat nor do they think it is an ongoing threat.

The investigation into this matter is continuing.

"As a precaution we have implemented heightened security measures at all the schools located within the Town of New Castle. Anyone with information regarding this incident can contact the Police Department at (914) 238-4422, submit an anonymous tip online at www.ncpd.info/tip or text the word NEWCPD followed by the tip information to TIP411," police officials said.

Also, Superintendent Christine Ackerman posted a second message to the Chappaqua school district community Thursday morning, bringing residents up-to-date on the threat officials learned about Wednesday afternoon.

She said she had heard from worried parents, knew about the concerns circulating on social media, and wanted to avoid misinformation circulating. She explained that the district has extensive security measures in place, including detailed (but not enumerated) district and building level plans which are continually being strengthened.

"I know this type of information is upsetting to receive. I send my own children to our schools every day, and the safety of our students is my top priority," she said. "Please feel confident that if I had any reason to believe that the security of Horace Greeley, or any other school in our District for that matter, was compromised, I would close the buildings."

In addition to the safety plans, among the security measures she described are the police officer stationed daily at the high school, building emergency response teams who are trained by a security/safety consultant and annual safety audits.

"The New Castle Police Department, our Summit Security Team and the Chappaqua Central School District Staff remain vigilant to protect everyone in our school community," she concluded. "You can certainly reach out to your building principal or any of our district office staff with concerns regarding school safety. And, as always, you can contact me to discuss any additional questions you may have."

CHAPPAQUA, NY — Just back from the holiday recess, Chappaqua school district officials learned Wednesday that a threat had been issued against Horace Greeley High School on social media.

The threat on Amazon's online streaming video platform was deemed not credible by both New Castle police and Amazon security, Superintendent Christine Ackerman told the district community.

The threat, posted on Christmas, was that the anonymous poster would "shoot up" the high school the next day.

District officials reminded residents that there is a police officer stationed daily at the school.

Here's the first letter posted on the district's website:

After school concluded this afternoon (1/2/19) the New Castle Police Department was contacted by Amazon Security. Representatives from this organization shared that on December 25, 2018, a person using an online streaming video platform called Twitch (a subsidiary of Amazon) posted the following, "Tomorrow, I am going to shoot up Horace Greeley High School in New Castle." The threat was deemed not credible by both Amazon Security and The New Castle Police Department.
The safety of our school community is our highest priority. We continue to encourage all of our students, staff, and families to report any security concerns directly to our school administration or through the anonymous alert system so they can be thoroughly investigated. You can also always contact the New Castle Police Department with any safety related concerns.
I want to remind all of our families that we have a New Castle Police officer stationed at Greeley throughout the school day and we vet all of our guests during school hours before entering our campus.
Please contact me or the New Castle Police Department with any questions regarding this correspondence.
Sincerely,
Christine Ackerman
Superintendent of Schools