A student was arrested and charged with terroristic threats and criminal mischief Monday in connection with a written shooting threat at Begich Middle School, according to the Anchorage Police Department and the Anchorage School District.
The district said it notified the Anchorage Police Department Monday about the threat at Begich Middle School, as well as a separate threat that circulated via Snapchat over the weekend. In a Monday statement, APD said it investigated the Snapchat threat and found it was made outside of Alaska and had “nothing to do with ASD.”
While police and school administrators determined the Begich threat was a prank, according to ASD, the district takes such actions “extremely seriously.”
This isn’t the first time the police have investigated threatening messages left in Anchorage schools over the past few weeks. School district spokeswoman Catherine Esary said ASD works closely with school resource officers to investigate any threats and communicate with parents, and it’s important for students to feel safe reporting any suspicious activity they might see.
“Maybe it is a post, maybe it’s something — you know, a social media post,” Esary said. “Likely students know about it before parents do and before the administration knows, and so we just have to constantly be vigilant.”
Kirsten Swann is a producer and reporter for Alaska Public Media.
