Student charged in Alpena schools threat; Hillman threat suspect identified
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HILLMAN -- A Thunder Bay Junior High School student faces a criminal charge and possible juvenile detention related to an alleged December school-related threat.
Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski on Monday said she will charge the student with terrorism or false report of terrorism in relation to a threat allegedly made by the school student on Dec. 9.
Muszynski has not yet decided on charges related to an unrelated threat allegedly made by an Alpena High School student on the same day.
The junior high school student, whose age Muszynski did not release, could face removal from the community and placement in a juvenile detention center either before or after conviction, Muszynski said.
Both threats included mention of a gun, police say, although neither police nor Alpena Public Schools administrators have released other details about the nature of the threats.
Meanwhile, the Montmorency County Sheriff's Office will ask that county's prosecutor to charge a juvenile in a Dec. 20 incident at Hillman Junior/Senior High School, in which a handwritten threat found on a school wall caused school officials to go into "secure mode" and send students home early.
As of mid-January, police did not have a suspect in the incident.
After an analysis of the written threat by Michigan State Police crime lab workers, deputies conducted additional interviews that led a juvenile to confess to writing the threat, according to Montmorency County Undersheriff Brian Crane.
The school has addressed the alleged threat internally, Crane said, but police will also ask the prosecutor to consider criminal charges.
The sheriff's office does not consider school disciplinary measures when considering charges and considers every threat credible, Crane said.
Crane would not say whether the threat included mention of a gun or other weapon or give more details about the nature of the threat. Police believe the threat constitutes no ongoing danger to students or staff.
Citing student confidentiality issues, Pamela Rader, interim superintendent of Hillman Community Schools, would not specify in what way the school addressed discipline of the student who admitted to the threat. Administrators followed board policy for responding to the threat, Rader said.
While schools at one time had a zero-tolerance policy for any threats, administrators must take into consideration the unique circumstances of every such incident, Rader said.
A deadly November school shooting at Oxford High School reinforced schools' need to take every such threat seriously, however, she said.
"We hope that all students and all parents realize that the words that they say do have consequences tied to them," Rader said. "Not only the words that they say, but also if they put things in writing."
Administrators can't afford to ignore threats of violence against schools - including several allegedly made by Alpena High School students on at least two occasions in January, leading to students' removal from classrooms - said Lee Fitzpatrick, director of communications for Alpena Public Schools.
"You don't have the liberty of treating things as 'kids being kids'" following the Oxford shooting, Fitzpatrick said. "You're talking about kids' safety and kids' lives."
Staff who have dealt with COVID-19, remote learning, and other stressors in recent years now have to cope with fear for their own and their students' safety, he said.
"Having that one extra thing hanging over you is sometimes kind of the last straw," Fitzpatrick said.
He would not specify how administrators addressed discipline of the students accused of making threats but said the district followed disciplinary rules included in the student code of conduct.
According to those rules, students who threaten to harm or do violence to another person or property could be subject to a wide range of discipline, from in-class time-outs and written apologies to expulsion and notification of police.
Threats falling under this category do not include "jokes, sarcastic remarks, friendly banter, or frustrated outbursts made without intent," according to the code of conduct.
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.