Mount Baker School District reports Instagram page may be linked to recent school threats
The Mount Baker School District reported Friday that a recently created Instagram page is possibly related to the threats made against the district’s junior high and high school campus.
“I want to share an update on the investigation into the Instagram page that was created on Wednesday, October 27 and appeared to be possibly related to the recent school threats,” Mount Baker Superintendent Mary Sewright wrote in an update posted Oct. 29, on the district’s website. “Thank you to the many students, staff members and families who reported this page. Your attention to this has helped significantly in the investigation.”
Sewright reported that sheriff’s office detectives visited some students’ houses on Thursday, Oct. 28, and were able to identify the person who created the social media page.
“We are currently dealing with the situation from the school level, and the sheriff’s department is dealing with it from their level,” Sewright wrote. “We appreciate all of the community support.”
For nearly a month the school district and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office have been investigating after a pair of threats referencing Oct. 28 were found inside bathrooms on the high school and junior high campus:
▪ On Sept. 30, a threat stating “School Shooting October 28th” was found scratched into the wall of the men’s bathroom in the field house, Sewright previously told The Herald.
▪ Then on Oct. 18, the district announced that a second threat reading “October 28 a lot will die” was found scratched into a bathroom paper dispenser in the 700 building of the high school campus.
More graffiti that also may have been linked to the threats was found in two bathrooms on Wednesday, Sewright reported in a letter to the students, staff, families and the communities that evening.
Sewright told The Bellingham Herald Thursday that attendance was noticeably down at the two schools on Thursday — approximately 20% attendance at the junior high and 25% at the high school — but said it was “very quiet day on campus.”
“The District will cooperate with local law enforcement and follow up with school discipline and support as this has been a significant disruption and threat to the academic and overall well-being of our students, staff, and families,” Sewright told The Herald Thursday. “We appreciate all of the community support.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 2:57 PM.
