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

