Student arrested for making threats toward Battle Mountain High School

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office on Monday arrested a 16-year-old for making threats toward Battle Mountain High School late last month. The student was removed from the school at the time, and the arrest was made this week.

Here’s Thursday’s press release from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office:

Working Together School Threats Result in Arrest of Juvenile

On Monday, April 10, 2018, The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 16-year-old for making threats towards Battle Mountain High School in Edwards, Colo. The arrest was the result of an investigation into alleged threats that were reported by other students to school faculty ten days ago. The investigation into the incident deemed the threats to be credible.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office worked collaboratively with school officials to take immediate action to ensure the safety and security of all students and staff. Because of this information being shared and the rapid response by all concerned parties, all the threats were mitigated, and there are no ongoing safety concerns at the school or in our community stemming from this specific situation.

“I want to thank the vigilant students and staff who brought information forward and assisted with this investigation to keep our students and school safe; they saw and heard something and said something and potentially saved lives. ” Sheriff James Van Beek said.

The suspect in this incident was taken into custody without incident and is being held at a Juvenile facility on two charges of Interference with an Educational Facility, a Class 1 Misdemeanor.

Following the initial investigation, the school administration sent out a notice to parents of students at the school apprising them of the situation.

The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office along with all local law enforcement and first responders,  throughout the county have been and will continue to work very closely with schools throughout Eagle County to properly train on the response to school-related incidents. “This is an ongoing and collaborative effort to properly address all reports and keep our schools safe. The students and faculty at Battle Mountain High took the appropriate steps to address this incident immediately. It is an absolute necessity for students, staff, and community members to take any potential threats seriously. Reporting any and all concerns to the proper authorities.” stated Eagle County Sheriff James Van Beek.

If you think you may have any information about the suspect(s) or this crime, please call the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office at (970) 328-8500 or Eagle County Crime Stoppers at 970-328-7007, 1-800-972-TIPS, submit your tip online at www.tipsubmit.com, or text a tip from your cell phone by texting STOPCRIME plus your message to CRIMES (274637).  If your tip leads to the arrest and indictment of any suspect involved, you could earn up to a $1,000 reward from the Crime Stoppers.

Person’s charged with crimes are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Here’s the original notification from Battle Mountain on March 30:

A message to BMHS Staff and Families:

We are reaching out to let you know about a situation that occurred at Battle Mountain High School this week. Yesterday we received information from a student about another student making concerning comments about a potential threat against the school. We immediately called law enforcement and removed the student of concern from our campus. The situation and investigation has been turned over to law enforcement and health professionals. School and law enforcement do not feel that there is any ongoing safety concern at the school stemming from this specific situation.

We applaud the student who came forward and reported the concerning situation. As a school, we have been encouraging students who hear or see something that is concerning to come forward and report it. In this situation, quick action helped us ensure the safety of our school.

We thank the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office for their immediate response and collaboration throughout this situation. The security and safety of all of our students and staff is our top priority, which includes learning about and investigating any concerns reported by students or families.

While we cannot discuss any specifics of this situation due to student privacy, if anyone has questions, please feel free to contact BMHS administration.