El Paso District Attorney discusses school threats
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks, along with other agencies in the region, released a video about the serious consequences of school threats.
The video titled "School Threats are No Joke" is in response to the constant number of gun threats and bomb threats D.A. Hicks says school districts in El Paso County are seeing on a weekly basis.
Whether it's a joke or not, Hicks said in a news conference that these types of threats will be taken seriously and will be prosecuted for terroristic threats.
“The fact that you are not even intending to do it, that it is a joke to you, is actually an element to the offense of terroristic threat,” said Hicks.
The video meant to raise awareness on school threats shows law enforcement going to the house of a kid who had made a threat through a post on social media. The video demonstrates how law enforcement will go to the students house to arrest them as a result of the threat.
D.A. Hicks mentioned that those making the threats are usually students.
Hicks said some students have called in threats to simply skip class. In some surprising cases, Hicks says they have seen honor students call in a bomb threat because they were freaking out to avoid taking a test.
Hicks said the video was released to all students in the participating school districts. The agencies participating in this video include Socorro ISD Police, El Paso ISD Police, Ysleta ISD Police, Canutillo ISD Police, Fabens ISD, San Eli ISD, and El Paso's Federal Bureau of Investigation.
