Four Amarillo Middle Schools Received Shooting Threats This Week

We send our kids to school thinking they're going to be safe while they're there. Sadly, it's hard to believe that in Amarillo after the latest news that's surfaced.

Lately there has been some threats of shootings and violence at targeted as some local area schools, and it got people a bit worked up, understandably so.

Parents were holding their kids at home and not letting them attend school in fear that something was going to happen. The threat that initially was on social media targeted Travis, Mann, and Bonham Middle School.

A group that was calling themselves "ATK" had posted on Snapchat that they were planning on executing school shootings on those three campuses. Travis had a scare roughly six months ago when two students were arrested after a gun was found on campus.

Things became a bit more real yesterday, September 12, 2024, as a student at River Road Middle School was arrested. He is accused of making terroristic threats towards the school.

These threats were found to be made on social media according to Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas. They received a tip about the threats at 9 am on Thursday and immediately went to work on them. To make matters worse, the student was apparently attempting to recruit other students to be a part of his plight.

According to Thomas, the motivation for the student was "that he supposedly saw on social media and thought it was cool, and said let’s try this out and see what we can do.”

PCSO mentioned that the student had admitting to make the threats online and was charged with terroristic threats and booked into the Youth Center of the High Plains. River Road ISD mentioned that the middle school is safe and it's ok for students to be there.