16 | DECEMBER 23 • 2021
OUR COMMUNITY
T
hreats of violence to schools
continue to put Oakland County
law enforcement and school
officials on high alert and parents on
edge. The latest: Early Monday morning
Dec. 13, West Bloomfield High School,
West Bloomfield Middle School and the
Transition Center went into lockdown
after threats on social media surfaced
on platforms like Instagram. No one was
permitted to enter or exit the buildings.
According to West Bloomfield Deputy
Police Chief Curt Lawson, police were
notified of the threat around 7:40 a.m.
Monday by district administrators who
had become aware of a post circulating
on social media that said, “Warning: I’m
coming to shoot up West Bloomfield
tomorrow. I’m coming for Oakside and
some more schools.”
In a statement released by West
Bloomfield Schools to district families,
the district urged: “Please do not come
and pick up your children as they will
not be released from school until the
threat is cleared. West Bloomfield Police
Department is investigating a social
media threat directed toward West
Bloomfield. We will not be passing
classes or allowing students in or out of
the building until we get further updates
from WBPD.”
The statement continued that school
would be canceled “in abundance of
caution” for Roosevelt, Scotch and
Gretchko elementary schools. Doherty
and Shieko, whose students were arriving
to school at the time of the reported
threat, went into lockdown once students
were in school, where no one was to be
permitted into or out of the building for
any reason. All preschools in the district
that had yet to begin were closed that day
by 8:30 a.m.
Since the fatal Nov. 30 Oxford High
School mass shooting, over a dozen
people, some minors, have been charged
in Metro Detroit in connection to school
threats or bringing weapons to school.
The common charge after a threat is
“false report or threat of terrorism” and
carries a 20-year felony.
School officials in Oakland County
are urging students to use Michigan’s
OK2SAY initiative to confidentially
report potential harm or criminal
activities aimed at students, teachers,
staff or other school employees. Tips
go to schools, local law enforcement
agencies, community mental health
agencies or the Michigan Department of
Health and Human Services.
On Dec. 9, the Bloomfield Township
Police Department received an OK2SAY
tip regarding a threat to the high school
that included the name of a student that
allegedly made the threat.
The township’s police department
school security officer and school liaison
officer launched an investigation that
resulted in the arrest of a 15-year-old
Bloomfield Hills High School student.
No weapons were found during a search
of the student’s home. On Dec. 10, the
student was arraigned on the charge
of threatening to commit violence
against students or employees on school
property. The charge is a one-year
misdemeanor.
Noah Arbit, 26, a West Bloomfield
resident running for state representative,
said if elected to serve in Lansing, he
would work “relentlessly” to secure
increased resources dedicated to school
safety. Arbit said that lockdown drills
and threats of school violence for his
generation and beyond have become a
way of life and little has been done at
Threats of violence cause school closures and lockdowns.
Living On Edge
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OK2SAY
Tips can be submitted 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week in the following ways:
• Telephone: 8-555-OK2SAY (855-565-2729)
• Text: 652729 (OK2SAY)
• Email: ok2say@mi.gov
• Website: ok2say.com
• OK2SAY Mobile app: Available in the Apple Store or Google Play.
WBHS