Here's why the war in Iran could cause more school threats in N.C.

The ongoing conflict in Iran is already causing an uptick of threats on North Carolina schools and businesses, according to those who strive to keep the state safe.

North Carolina Juvenile Justice Deputy Secretary William Lassiter said since the conflict started earlier this month, he's been told of multiple threats coming from international sources. 

"We're actually seeing quite a few of those come from other countries, especially with the Iran war going on," Lassiter said. "We get more of these coming in from other countries trying to disrupt our way of life in America. They pick up on a news story that occurs in a local area where there's already a heightened level of nervousness in that community, and then they just pick those communities to really target those schools." 

So far this year, WRAL has reported least seven school days where one or multiple schools districts have had to respond to a threat or multiple threats. On Tuesday, there were threats made toward two Durham schools. 

While the number of threats coming from outside of the state or the country may increase due to the conflict, data from Juvenile Justice suggests that the number of threats made to educational property, both credible and not, by children under the age of 18, decreased dramatically over the last year. 

In 2024, there were 564 threats of mass violence to an educational property somewhere in North Carolina. That included both credible and false threats. 

In 2025, there were 332 threats against North Carolina schools. 

Those numbers do not include threats that originate outside of North Carolina or the United States, or the number of threat found to have been made by adults. 

Lassiter said threats are often made on social media or via phone, making it difficult for state law enforcement to investigate. 

"The FBI gets involved in those cases and tries to investigate those, to try to figure out where those are actually originating from, and trying to investigate and see if there's a way that we can help those people accountable," Lassiter said. 

Lassiter said the department is encouraging families to not share any threat they may see online, but rather contact law enforcement immediately, as well as the school that may be targeted.