NC school districts not required to track threats of violence

WRAL News wanted to learn more about the number of threats after six lockdowns on Friday – and look into how law enforcement agencies are working to hold students accountable

School threats come with fear and a lot of inconvenience to the school day. Wake County Schools is calling on state lawmakers to strengthen laws for the people making these threats.

Social media is where the Wake County Sheriff’s Office says a majority of school threats originate.

“We have to keep kids accountable, and I think they have to understand that it’s not just a joke. It impacts hundreds and hundreds of people. It makes people very upset," says State Representative Julie von Haefen, who also serves as a substitute teacher in Wake County.

After Friday's lockdowns, officials called on lawmakers to strengthen laws to address the school threats.

“That is the will of lawmakers, of society and folks to be able to answer that question," says Lindsay Mahaffey with the Wake County School Board.

Right now, it’s a low-level felony for communicating threats of mass violence on educational property.

“I am never a big fan of increasing penalties for things. I think we have to get to the root of why this is happening and not just address it after it happens. Honestly, this goes back to the fact that our students are not being supported well enough in the schools," says von Haefen.

School districts are required to keep track of serious crimes on campus, but the state does not make school districts track threats of violence.

Wake County Schools say while they take every threat seriously - they do not keep a list of incidents.

“I would hope they would keep that data. It’s a little surprising. I think as a parent, I would like to know if this is happening at my kids school more there than other ones. So, yes, I would hope they would maybe definitely start doing that," says von Haefen.

Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe says for every threat investigators try to track down the student or person responsible.

However, he says sometimes these online threats originate from foreign countries, making it impossible to hold anyone accountable.