Viral Tiktok warning of school shooting prompts BISD safety precautions
An anonymous TikTok promoting "National School Shooting and Bomb Threat Day" for December 17 went viral on social media, prompting schools around the country, including Bandera Independent School District (BISD), to enact preventative safety measures.
BISD announced a Lock Out policy was in place, before removing it Friday morning.
"We have placed a Lock Out security in place on all campuses," said BISD Interim Superintendent Gary Bitzkie in a statement. "School will resume as normal inside the building, but visitors will not be allowed. We will have increased law enforcement presence on our campuses as an added precaution."
The district shared on Facebook around 9:09 a.m. Friday morning they are no longer in a Lock Out situation, but will have law enforcement presence on campus for the remainder of the day.
Maryland's Baltimore County Public Schools tweeted Thursday morning that law enforcement agencies determined the threats aren’t credible.
“Law enforcement agencies have investigated this threat and determined that it originated in Arizona and is not credible,” they tweeted.
Schools throughout the country announced increased safety precautions, with schools like Dallas’ Kaufman High School canceling Friday’s classes completely.
San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District, who reported a gun was found in a student’s backpack at Warren High school earlier this week, said they would not be canceling classes.
“While officials have been able to deem the threats referencing NISD schools not credible, District staff and Northside ISD Police will remain vigilant in keeping students and staff safe,” they said in a statement.
There have been nine active and 235 non-active shooter incidents at schools so far this year, according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.
Today is BISD's last day of school before the holiday break.
TikTok released the following statement via Twitter:
"We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we’re working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok."