WALTHAM – Nearly a dozen schools across Massachusetts have been the subject of violent threats in the past week and while there are penalties for making a threat, one question is are they tough enough.
“I want to be able to make sure my son is OK,” said Ladeaina, who lives in Waltham with her 3-year-old, Canaan. They’re interviewing at day cares and live across the street from McDevitt Middle School, where just days ago, a shooting threat forced police to surround the school.
“It does concern me,” said Ladeaina.
Florida county’s viral solution
Waltham isn’t the only town with a school facing threats of violence. On Wednesday alone, Hingham, Everett, Boylston and Carver all received unfounded threats too. It’s a nationwide epidemic and one agency in Florida is cracking down on consequences.
“How many times can we put these kids in lockdown?” said Michael Chitwood, the sheriff in Volusia County, Florida. He went viral after his office received almost 300 school threats since class began three weeks ago. He’s since announced drastic measures – kids caught threatening violence will be outed publicly and so will their parents.