Concerns Over Threat Against Detroit Lakes High School

A threat against Detroit Lakes High School has students and parents worried.

School administrators say they have a plan in place to deal with threats against students. But is that enough to satisfy parents and students?
 
It all started with a social media post. A parent saying their son heard of a potential attack at Detroit Lakes High School next week. Details were vague.
 
“Not much besides a kid wanting to shoot up our variety show,” says Detroit Lakes Senior Mady Webber.
 
But the post went viral.
 
“People asking a lot of questions, and we were getting a lot of calls from parents into our office,” says Detroit Lake Superintendent Doug Froke.
 
Froke tried to get in front of the issue. He sent out a mass message by email, text and phone to parents and students.
 
Detroit Lake police say the student who made the threats has autism, and may not be aware of the seriousness of what he said.

School administrators decided to keep classes running as scheduled, with extra security.
 
“Natural reaction is to make sure we’ve got some support people, law enforcement”, Froke says. “Just a little added presence to let our folks know, our students know, that they’re safe.”
 
The superintendent says he sent out the mass message to let parents know the district was aware of the threat.

But he says that message came with some unintended consequences.
 
“Some parents say that’s a good thing,” he ads. “And some parents may say that’s not good enough.”
 
One parent sent us a blistering critique of the superintendent, saying “He is going to get people killed” for not taking the threat more seriously. Students we talked to are more uncertain.
 
“It is our school and it is like our big event,” explains Webber. “So it’s kind of like, is it something we worry about, or is it something we just push off?”
 
Froke says the situation is under control. He would reveal more, but says he can’t because the investigation is ongoing.
 
He says, “That makes it tough to communicate with parents and students.”
 
Froke says there is a chance next week’s variety show may be canceled, but he says the investigation into the threat should be completed in time, and the show will likely go on.