UPDATE: An anonymous donor has contributed $20,000 to the Crimestoppers reward for information, bringing the total to $30,000.
--
It's been quite the spring semester at Highland Park High School. The normally quiet campus has been rocked by repeated threats of violence since January.
Classes have been canceled twice to allow the bomb squad to comb the grounds. On March 1, Crimestoppers announced a $10,000 reward for information on the crimes. It's since been upped to $30,000. University Park police and campus security officers reportedly have the FBI at their disposal.
But the culprit remains at large — and active. The latest iteration of the threats have been text messages sent to students' cell phones.
"With digital communication, it just takes on a life of its own," HPISD's Helen Williams says.
The content of the threats has not been made public, a decision that University Park Police Capt. Leon Holman stands behind.
"We don’t want to make anything public because the investigation is still going on," Holman says.
Recently, there's been talk that school administrators are directing students to delete the messages from their personal phones. But Holman doesn't condone destroying evidence of a potential felony — making a terroristic threat — and neither does HPISD spokesperson Helen Williams.
"We're not instructing them to do that," Holman says. "As far as I know, we are being informed about every text message. We definitely want to know about every text message."
Williams says students have not been asked to delete original threatening text messages, but she does discourage forwarding that information to others.
"With digital communication, it just takes on a life of its own," Williams says. "The threats that have been received have been taken very seriously and turned over to the authorities for investigation."
Holman says that even if a staff member did tell a student to delete a message, UP police probably wouldn't file charges because it involves private property.
Much of these conversations stem from a March 22 column for the Huffington Post in which Highland Park mom and noted writer Pamela Kripke calls for metal detectors and better communication between the award-winning public relations staff, police and parents.
Williams says the district remains accessible to parents and students who want to discuss safety issues via regular school board meetings.
"If anyone ever wants to say something to the school board about their concerns, we are here," Williams says. "We are in no way avoiding the public."
Law enforcement authorities have had an increased presence on campus as a result of the threats.
