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Eagle County schools, police on high alert in wake of social media threats, Georgia case
Editor’s note: On Friday, Sept. 13, the Eagle Police Department announced the arrest of a juvenile in connection with threats against a Town of Eagle school.
Parents, students and staff at Eagle County’s two largest public high schools have been on edge all week following a Sunday night social media threat and a later post with a target list of students – all less than a week after a school shooting in Georgia that killed four and came with its own set of advance warnings about the alleged shooter.
The local social media threats are being described by Eagle County school officials as most likely an illegal “swatting” incident, while Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek, in an interview with the Vail Daily Tuesday, said law enforcement is leaning toward the threats being a “massive spamming thing.”
Security has been stepped up at both local public high schools, as well as other schools throughout the district, but officials opted not to go to remote learning as they continue to investigate the threats. Both law enforcement and school officials are empathetic to parents and students wishing to stay away from the schools for the time being.
Following a Sunday night’s social media threat, Vail Police Chief Ryan Kenney kept his child out of Eagle Valley High School on Monday because he knew the regularly assigned school resource office, Eagle County Sheriff’s Deputy Griffin Wright, would not be there.
“[Kenney] was very forthright in letting me know that his decision to keep his child out of school was based on the SRO, Deputy Griffin Wright, being off duty that day,” Town of Vail spokesperson Kris Widlak wrote in an email to RealVail.com on Wednesday. “His kiddo returned to school when Deputy Wright did.”
That occurred on Tuesday when Wright was reportedly called back in.
In his interview with the Vail Daily Tuesday, Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek “admitted to not being entirely certain about the seriousness of the threats,” which included a later post with a target list at Eagle Valley High School. Van Beek added that he empathizes with parents struggling over whether to send their children to school in the wake of the online threats.
“I’m 70%, 75% somewhere I think (the threat is) bogus, but we won’t know until we know,” van Beek told the Vail Daily. “I can say, if people want to keep their kids home, I don’t blame them. But … at the moment, we’re leaning more toward this is a massive spamming thing.”
According to the sheriff’s department’s website, its current school resource officer (SRO) program has been in place since 2008. A school district spokesperson referred questions about SRO staffing to the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office.
“When an SRO is out sick, on vacation, or has worked unusual hours for incidents and events, we defer to our patrol teams to handle calls within the schools as dispatched,” Eagle County Sheriff’s spokesperson Ashley LaFleur wrote in an email on Thursday. “Our SRO’s schedules are always fluid because the demands they face each day are unique and change weekly depending on school events including sporting events.
“We have one SRO that serves all the West end schools and there are also patrol deputies to assist that SRO as needed or requested,” LaFleur added. “We have two deputies assigned to up valley public schools who work in the same manner.”
School officials and the sheriff’s office have widely communicated stepped-up police presence at local schools this week in the wake of the online threats but have not discussed the assignment of school resource officers.
Adding to the anxiety among local parents, students and school staff is last week’s high school shooting in Georgia in which a 14-year-old boy was alleged to have made online threats while his relatives, including his mother, were concerned about his mental health.
The boy allegedly killed two students and two teachers on Wednesday, Sept. 4, and has been charged with murder as an adult. His father has been charged with second-degree murder for allegedly providing the boy with an assault weapon.
Gun-safety advocates have pushed for stronger gun laws in Georgia, including a state lawmaker who said an extreme risk protection order (or red flag) law like the one in Colorado could have prevented last week’s deadly shooting spree.
Asked Monday about the Georgia case in relation to the local threats, which included a picture of an assault weapon, and the possible use of Colorado’s red flag law if a local suspect is identified, ECSO’s LaFleur replied in an email: “The state’s Red Flag Law has been utilized minimally in Eagle County by law enforcement. Currently, the investigation into last night’s and today’s incident is active and to answer this inquiry is too speculative, however, we will look at every tool to bring this matter to a safe conclusion.”
Pressed on whether the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office under Sheriff van Beek has ever used the red flag law, given his stated opposition to it in 2019 – calling it an “unfunded mandate” and an unconstitutional “gun-grab” – LaFleur emailed: “ECSO has not utilized the law; you’ll need to follow up with the other law enforcement agencies in Eagle County about who has used it.”
The Vail Police Department has utilized the law, according to Widlak.
“The Vail PD has used the red flag law three times,” Widlak wrote in an email. “In one instance, it was fully executed and is currently in place. The other two times the process was initiated, the subjects of the orders voluntarily relinquished their firearms.”
Former longtime Vail Police Chief Dwight Henninger backed Colorado’s red flag law for suicide prevention and as a possible tool in cases like a fatal 2009 shooting at a West Vail bar.
ECSO’s LaFleur clarified that van Beek still opposes the law.
“In regards to the Red Flag Law, the Sheriff still doesn’t care for the way it is currently written,” LaFleur wrote. “In his opinion, lawmakers missed a critical part which was proposed to be included in earlier versions where mental healthcare was available and incorporated as part of the law. If mental healthcare was addressed and provided, he would likely change his opinion.”
Follow the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office on social media for the latest updates, including this information:
“We understand the immense concern and anxiety these posts are causing. If the pressure related to these online posts is causing issues for anyone, we encourage our community to reach out for assistance and support. It is available through Vail Behavioral Health at https://ww.vailhealthbh.org or call (844) 493-8255 for local 24/7 Crisis Response.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a comment from Eagle County Sheriff’s spokesperson Ashley LaFleur on school resource officer staffing.
David O. Williams
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