Bellevue Public Schools make statement on possible threat

BELLEVUE, Neb. (KMTV) — Bellevue Public Schools sent a statement to families Friday regarding a possible threat of a school shooting circulating on Snapchat and other social media platforms.

The post was directed towards Bellevue East, according to the e-mail.

Read the statement and a Twitter post from Jeff Rippe, Superintendent of Bellevue Public Schools, below.

Good evening, BPS Families.

Typically we do not send messages out to address rumors, but in this day and age of Facebook, Snapchat, and other social media platforms sometimes things get out of control and rumors spread rapidly.

There is a post regarding Bellevue East and a potential school shooting/student safety, originating on Snapchat, that is going around on multiple platforms.

Thankfully to the credit of our TIPS Report Incident tool both Law Enforcement and Bellevue Public Schools were made aware of the rumors spreading, as well as unsubstantiated social media posts regarding this possible incident.

We have been working with Bellevue Police and are thankful for the great partnership we have with them. Bellevue Police have found no evidence of a threat. The School District and Law Enforcement will continue to monitor and investigate any reports we receive.

Please rest assured we do everything we can each day to ensure students and staff are safe. We would ask for your help in controlling the rumors. Please take this opportunity with your child(ren) to explain how texting and social media platforms can compound the problem when we don’t deal in facts. Please take this time to have an open dialogue at home.

The most effective safety program is one where students, parents, staff, and the community is observant and reports anything suspicious. Our TIPS Report Incident tool is available day/night, please click here for TIPS [track.spe.schoolmessenger.com][track.spe.schoolmessenger.com]

Thank you,
Bellevue Public Schools