Authorities warn of consequences for false school threats as school year ends in El Paso

EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — As the school year comes to a close, authorities are warning students about the consequences of making school threats.

Speaking to KFOX14/CBS4 on Monday, the El Paso County Attorney’s office said that towards the end of the school year, it sees an increase in false threats against schools.

According to the county attorney’s office, there have been five cases reported so far this year, compared to about 20 cases reported last year.

“It’s about the same trend; we did see a large increase over the last year. However, it’s been on par with what we’ve seen the last few years,” April Galvan, El Paso County Attorney’s Office, said.

The county attorney’s office is warning that whether these reported threats are a joke or not, there are consequences.

“The way that we see these types of threats is one, this person is joking, and they’re causing an alarm at the school; well, that’s an offense. The other aspect that we see is maybe this person wasn’t joking, and maybe they were serious, maybe they were wanting to get a weapon and take it to school and use it, and that’s an offense too,” Galvin said.

Galvan added that there are other consequences people need to consider, including possibly being held in custody for 48-hours if you are arrested, putting your family through a house search, and a felony record.

The county attorney’s office is not the first to warn against the threats, as the FBI El Paso shared a post on social media last week about how school districts are seeing a high volume of threats.

The agency reminded the community to think before posting, adding that every reported threat is investigated.

RECOMMENDED: EPISD keeps officers at West El Paso high school after non-credible threat

Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.