New shooting threat made against Braden River High School

Another threat against a Manatee County high school was received Thursday morning, the school district has confirmed. 

School District spokesman Mike Barber confirmed the threat, a day after three students from a Manatee County middle school and charter school were arrested and charged with making threats to kill others.

Those arrests come on the heels of the arrest of a ninth grader Sept. 13 for making similar threats toward other Manatee County schools, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said. 

Meanwhile, in Sarasota County, a charter school in North Port, Imagine School, was in lockdown after a bus driver found ammunition on the bus after dropping students off Thursday morning, North Port Police said on social media.

Barber confirmed a message was sent to parents of Braden River High School students Thursday morning.

Image courtesy of Elaine Evans

“Today, the sheriff’s office and the school district are providing additional security personnel at Braden River High School,” the message said. “An investigation is continuing regarding information received last night and this morning. All campus operations are proceeding as normal.”

Students at Braden River High must pass through security screening to enter the school, which uses a system using magnetometers and video technology to detect hidden weapons.

“As a reminder, BRHS continues to use the EVOLV security screening each morning and throughout the school day,” the message to parents said. “We are working with the sheriff’s office on this matter, and we will keep you updated. Thank you for your cooperation and support.”

Despite the technology being used, Elaine Evans, a parent of a Braden River High student said her daughter is afraid to go to school. 

With school beginning Aug. 12, Evans said her daughter is scared there are multiple threats within the first six weeks of school. 

“She's totally scared, you know, especially the first one, when they locked them all down in the room,” she said.

Evans said her daughter has told her many students chose to stay home Thursday with only five students present in her first class of the day. 

After the Sept. 13 arrest of a ninth grader for making threats on social media, Manatee County Sheriff's Lt. Julio Jordan-Escalona, the head of the school resource officer unit, said copycat threats after a real school shooting are a common occurrence.

“The one thing that we see a little pattern on is, every time there's a shooting across somewhere in the United States, usually there's an uptake on generic threats,” he said. “And then, unfortunately, some of the kids start using that as a joke, or they think it's funny.” 

Even if the threats are meant as a joke, it’s little comfort to Evans, though she said she knows authorities and the school district are "doing the best they can." 

“It scares me to death sending her to school, it really does, you know?” she said.