Police: Student threat made at Heritage Middle School, no current safety concern

Police are investigating a reported threat of violence against a student at a West St. Paul middle school.

West St. Paul police say officials were alerted that a student threatened another student Wednesday night at Heritage E-STEM Middle School.

The parents and students involved are cooperating with police, who say there isn’t any concern for student safety at this time.

The department noted the threat following the mass shooting at a Texas elementary school this week “certainly exacerbates the sense of safety for some of our students, parents and staff.”

With that in mind, law enforcement will have an additional presence at all West St. Paul schools this week.

“We take all threats of violence seriously especially when it comes to our students,” the department said, adding that investigators don’t believe the threat could’ve been carried out but that “does not reflect the emotional trauma this incident may have caused to some of the students and staff.”

The investigation remains active.

Anyone with information is asked to call West St. Paul police at 651-552-4200.

The district released the following statement to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS:

“There are no safety concerns for students at Heritage E-STEM Middle School. What we have learned is comments were made between students that felt threatening, but after investigation were found to not be credible. District 197 has been working closely with the West St. Paul Police Department to investigate the situation, and again, no credible threats have been found.

“School District 197 is committed to providing a safe learning environment for our students, and we take all potential threats seriously. No incident is taken lightly. Though the threat was determined not to be credible, given the tragic recent events in our country, the West St. Paul Police has an increased presence.”

School District 197