Continuing from the unsettling bomb threat last week, Hazelbrook Middle School remains closed this Monday, serving as a stark testament to the harrowing incident necessitating a comprehensive evacuation of its students and staff.
A foreboding email, intercepted last Friday, alluded to explosives planted within the school's premises and proposed an imminent shooting, thus prompting an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Rooted within a violent altercation incident at Hazelbrook, the anxiety-provoking development transpired shortly after a video evidence of an assault in the school's hallway surfaced.
As averred by the school's staff, anonymous threats via email and phone had been administered earlier that week. It was, however, the bomb threat received last Friday that commanded federal intervention.
In light of the unsettling series of happenings, the Superintendent of Tigard-Tualatin School District, Dr Sue Rieke-Smith, pinpointed a trending social media challenge as a plausible instigator.
She opined, "The motivation was to record a threat or a confrontation, gain popularity, and that's exactly the resultant scenario. The students were cognizant of the impending incident yet decided against reporting it."
Consequent to the circulation of the contentious video across multiple social platforms, safety concerns on behalf of the student featured have escalated. The school has since faced an influx of prejudiced correspondence, chiefly targeting the purported gender identity of the alleged assaulter.
As per the threatening email, the assault was followed by no disciplinary measures. However, following the bomb threat, charges of fourth-degree assault and harassment were placed against the student.
In the current scenario, law enforcement agencies continue to probe the matter and the identity of the individual responsible for the threat remains undisclosed.