School shooting threat temporarily sends upstate NY students back to remote learning
North Albany Middle School briefly returned to remote learning on Friday after the school received a threat about a possible shooting that day. Fortunately, the investigation has identified the individual, and students will return to in-person classes after the holiday weekend.
Officials at the City School District of Albany confirmed to Fox News that the school received a "confidential report that an individual was planning " to bring a gun to the school and start shooting. The report had been received late Thursday evening, so the school contacted the authorities and decided that students would use remote learning on Friday for safety.
"We immediately notified our security department and the Albany Police Department," the school wrote in a statement to Fox News. "Vincent Thompson and Matt Fargione, the district’s director and assistant director of safe schools and violence prevention, worked with police throughout the night in order to continue to investigate the threat."
The school confirmed that the investigation continued into Friday morning.
"As a district, we are thankful that our community stepped up and felt safe in reporting this information to us," the statement continued. "Creating safe, confidential spaces for our families and community members to provide us with valuable information is an example of how we work together to promote the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, families and community."
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The school also took the opportunity to remind parents of the importance of discussing acceptable and unacceptable behavior and that they should feel comfortable reporting "potentially dangerous situations."
The statement concluded, "The individual behind the threat to North Albany Middle School has been identified as a student. The district will follow procedures outlined in its Student Code of Conduct to determine disciplinary consequences. We are grateful to our district security staff and the Albany Police Department for their assistance."