PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Students will not be back at Hazelbrook Middle School Monday following Friday’s bomb threat which led to a full staff and student evacuation.
The school received an email threat Friday with claims of explosives on school grounds as well as a shooting, leading to the FBI investigating the threat.
The threat came just days after an assault in the halls of Hazelbrook, which was videotaped showing one student grabbing another before shoving them down and hitting them.
Hazelbrook staff said they received multiple email and phone threats earlier in the week, but only the one Friday included the bomb threat which prompted a federal investigation.
Superintendent of Tigard-Tualatin School District, Dr Sue Rieke-Smith said the entire incident was planned for a social media challenge.
“Go ahead and videotape a threat or a fight so you can get lots of likes and that’s exactly what they did. Students knew this was going to go down for that reason and did not report it,” Dr. Rieke-Smith said.
The threats also sparked safety concerns for a student who could be seen in the video, which went viral on social media. The middle school has since received a barrage of hate mail focused on the perceived gender identity of that student, who they say had initiated the attack.
According to the email threat, the assailant hadn’t received any consequences following the attack. The night after the bomb threat, the student was arrested on charges of fourth-degree assault and harassment.
Police are still investigating and we do not know yet who made the threat.
