Multiple schools in the Triangle have been placed on a lockdown in response to a significant threat every day this week. Police found most of those to be not credible, but these raise questions about why violence-related threats are happening so frequently.

In just this one week, five schools across the Triangle had seven lockdowns, and two sent students home early — most after reports of a bomb or gun threat.

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Research Triangle Charter Academy in Durham sent students home early on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday after threats were made against the school. Lufkin Road Middle in Apex dismissed students early Wednesday after a report of a bomb threat. 

A student brought an unloaded gun to East Chapel Hill Wednesday, and two Wake County schools were on brief lockdowns on Friday. 

These numbers are just a small reflection of a national trend that's seeing a steady increase in threats made to schools.

According to the non-profit Educator's School Safety Network, there was a roughly 8% increase in threats made to schools from the 2023-2024 school year to the 2024-2025 school year. But, the non-profit emphasized that it is likely the number of threats received could be higher since threats are considered to be commonplace and less likely to be reported in the media. 

The non-profit also found that although the number of threats received had declined overall since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization's hesitations to predict the number were also reflected as inaccurate due to a lack of reporting to the media.

Students and staff nationwide especially feel that shift.

Former teacher and school resource officer Mac Hardy finds that threats made to schools trigger emotional turmoil for everyone involved.

"The unseen consequences of this is the mental trauma that it causes to students, to parents, and to staff inside the schools. When you hear this threat, you do have that fight or flight and that's not a health state to be in," said Hardy.

While N.C. data show bomb and hoax threats were on the decline from 2023-24 to 2024-25, it remains unclear if a decrease will be reflected in 2026, especially after these recent incidents in the Triangle.  

Regardless, Hardy said law enforcement still must respond to every threat. “We have to take every threat as it comes in as a credible threat," he explained.

Hardy also noted that some threats may now originate from out of the country, something that he views as a relatively new concept.

WRAL News previously reported that the ongoing conflict in Iran is already causing an uptick of threats on schools and businesses, according to those who strive to keep the state safe.

"I think it's just to cause fear and to cause chaos within our educational environment," said Hardy.

Garner police are still investigating the incident near East Garner Middle School Friday. 

Durham police also told WRAL News Friday that the bomb threats at RTCA are still under investigation.

Kaitlyn Dang contributed to this reporting.