After a social media post titled “Gun at LHS” raised concerns Tuesday, the Lawrence school district and police are reminding people to “report, not repost” if they hear of threats.
A Reddit user on Monday night had posted to the platform that their son “got a gun pulled on him, and his bullies filmed it and put it (on) Snapchat.” In the post, the user said the school hadn’t intervened and that their son was concerned about being retaliated against if he reported it.
Lawrence police confirmed the alleged incident related to the post actually involved a student being sent a threatening video outside of school, and they’re investigating.
District spokesperson Julie Boyle said a Lawrence High School staff member brought “a written post” to a building administrator Tuesday morning. Prior, the school was unaware, she said.
“If someone has knowledge of a student being threatened by another student with a gun, it is reckless not to report it to the authorities,” Boyle said via email.
Laura McCabe, Lawrence Police Department spokesperson, said the post does not correlate with any alleged threat that was directed toward the school or that occurred on campus. McCabe said the teen referenced in the post told police Tuesday morning that he was “sent a threatening video that included a gun while he was at the park yesterday afternoon about 3:30.”
“I understand why parents, students, and the community are fearful when they see a post titled ‘Gun at LHS,’” McCabe said via email. “Let me be very clear. The incident I believe this post is referring to is something that is alleged to have occurred AFTER school hours at a park and NOT at school.”
LHS Principal Quentin Rials sent an email to families shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday, asking those who may have more information to contact the school or police. The district routinely reminds its community to report safety concerns to police, Boyle said.
Since the district — along with many others across the nation — is dealing with a surge in threats and alleged threats, Interim Superintendent Jeanice Swift and LPD Chief Rich Lockhart recently collaborated on a safety video. Boyle and McCabe said they’d like to reamplify their message to students and families: “report, not repost.”
“This is a perfect example of how quickly rumors and fear can spread online and how important it is to contact police and report, rather than take to social media,” McCabe said via email.
McCabe said police were still gathering information Tuesday afternoon, and because the investigation was ongoing, they were unable to share additional details.
The user who made the Reddit post did not respond to a direct message seeking further comments by the time of publication Tuesday.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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