Solvay, N.Y. — A fourth Central New York high school — Solvay — has reported being the target of racist shooting threats on Monday.
Solvay High School students alerted their principal Monday afternoon about a Snapchat circulating that appeared to threaten Solvay students on both Monday and Tuesday, Solvay Union Free School Superintendent Jay Tinklepaugh said in a letter posted on the district’s website.
“The message appears to be a copycat of the message that was sent on Sunday regarding the East Syracuse Minoa High School incident,” Tinklepaugh said. “Unfortunately, other school districts are also receiving the same copy of the threat.”
East Syracuse Minoa High School switched to remote learning on Monday after the district learned a student had received a text message indicating “violence would take place at school on Monday.” The student who received the threat — which included “racist sentiments” — posted it on social media.
A text message sent shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday to a student shared with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard threatened a shooting Monday at the high school targeting Black students.
Similar racist shooting threats also were sent to students at Corcoran and Henninger high schools in the city of Syracuse, police said.
In Syracuse, the threats claimed the shooting would happen at 12:30 p.m. Monday but no shootings happened, city police spokesman Lt. Matthew Malinowski said. Extra police were present at city high schools on Monday, he said.
Solvay school officials called Solvay police after learning of the Snapchat message that appeared to threaten students at the high school.
“With the help of the Solvay PD, it was determined that this threat was not substantiated,” Tinklepaugh said. “At this time, we do not believe there is any credible threat to Solvay schools.”
Solvay and Geddes police departments plan to have officers at all school buildings on Tuesday, the superintendent said.
ESM High School students will return to the classroom Tuesday with added security as the district and police continue to investigate the threat of racist violence.
The district on Monday installed a new weapons detection system, known as Evolv, at the main entrance the high school, ESM Superintendent Donna DeSiato said.
Evolv is a walk-through system that screens for weapons while allowing students and visitors to quickly move through the security checkpoint, according to the company website.
Starting Tuesday, all ESM students and visitors must enter the high school through the main entrance where they’ll be met with the new weapons detection system. ESM school officials, with the help of the Manlius Police Department, also added two officers, DeSiato said.
Solvay’s superintendent talked about the importance of students speaking up to keep everyone in the district safe.
“We commend the students who brought the Snapchat to the attention of the administration,” Tinklepaugh said. “The safety of our students, staff, and community is of the utmost importance. Our students demonstrated the importance of immediate communication — ‘see something, say something’ — which, in turn, prompted an investigation.”
Manlius police continue to ask anyone with information about the threat at ESM to contact them at (315) 682-8673 or tips@manliuspolice.org.
Have a tip or a story idea? Contact Catie O’Toole: cotoole@syracuse.com | text/call 315-470-2134 | Twitter | Facebook.
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