Students, staff, and faculty members at Little Elm High School in the aptly named town of Little Elm, Texas were given a shock this morning as the school was placed under lockdown. The school was informed of a threat that had supposedly been posted on a social media platform, and the administration was quick to lock down the school and contact the local police department. The school posted on their Facebook page to inform parents and visitors about the lockdown.

The threat originated from a freshman student at the high school, according to the Little Elm City Manager, Matt Mueller. Mueller went on to say, “We got reports that a freshman student who attends Little Elm High School had made threats on social media. The school is going to err on the side of caution anytime we have a situation like this.” The student was counted as absent during first period, and police searched for him during the lockdown. Supposedly, the student in question had been bullied and had threatened to bring a weapon to school in retaliation.

Various reports conflicted as new information emerged, with some saying that the student posted the threat on Facebook, and others saying that the student did not post to social media at all, but had rather expressed the threat to friends who had gone on to contact the police. It was eventually confirmed that the later case was the factual one. Reports of gunfire were also thrown into the mix, though these were entirely false; no gun shots were fired during the lockdown, and Litttle Elm High School was sure to report such to their Facebook audience.

The school was released from lockdown around 11:45, and students returned to their classes as normal. The school issued a statement on their website regarding the lockdown, saying that the student suspect had been located and that any students picked up by their guardians after the lockdown were given excused absences. The statement also stressed that no weapons had been found and that, contrary to what had been said early on, the threat had not been made on social media. No one was hurt and the student in question remains in custody.

[Image courtesy of the Little Elm ISD Facebook page.]