On Monday of this week, the day had barely passed noon and B lunch had barely begun as the fire alarm sounded urging the campus to evacuate. Being that someone sets off the alarm at least every month, this hardly was unnerving to anyone as the school apprehensively and lethargically made their way outside. It wasn’t until the sounds of sirens greeted everyone outside, that there was any ground for panic.
That same Monday morning Hays CISD had sent out a message to the community stating that some parents and students had reached out about a screenshot of a screenshot circulating, claiming that a gang was planning a retaliation shooting at an unnamed school. The district said that threat was circulating regionally and statewide and did not target any Hays CISD schools. Following the initial message, Hays CISD sent out a second message, stating, “A second screenshot threat has surfaced, likely in response to the previous threat message”. The district said this time, the threat specifically mentioned “Hays.”
For those who knew of the threat, the alarm going off provided a perfect opportunity for some students to leave as quick as possible,
“Why are they lining us up outside when there’s a shooter looking for us? They don’t have to aim, they just have to shoot and we’re all dead. I just didn’t wanna get shot. I just had to evacuate, I wasn’t gonna sit there and get shot, it was lunchtime I needed to leave. So yeah I went home ’cause my mom told me to go home, so I wasn’t gonna listen to the teachers ‘cuse I gotta go.”- Brandon Edwards, 11
For those unaware of any threats, coming back into the school was strange. From floods of people in the office, to the scurrying of other students around the campus, and the scarcely populated fifth period classrooms filled with the ‘news’ of that day’s events. It would be more accurate to call the talk rumors, but when even the teachers weren’t fully informed, group chat messages sourcing a friend of a friend were solid as stone.
“A ton of rumors were being told about it, people were making up stuff to try to make it more serious than it was. And the line of the parents that went all the way to the stadium, that was crazy. And people when the fire alarm went off were just going to their cars and leaving, they just didn’t even stay. I had to stay the whole time, my classes were empty, there was nobody at all, everyone was gone.” Jade Brady, 9
This morning the more credible news sources reported that authorities arrested a 16 year old Hays High School student, who they had discovered was behind the post. Authorities believe the teenager had found the initial generic post and personalized it to Hays High School as a joke, now that teenager is facing a false alarm charge, a state jail felony, according to the Hays County Sheriff’s Office.
“It was very scary, and I didnt know about it until seventh period, so I was just wondering why there was no one there… It’s very bad to do that stuff [the threats].” -Brandon Mullinix, 9
While mostly unsubstantiated, the rumors throughout the school caused somewhat of a panic glazed over with the dark humor of the generation. Though most found the rumors to be just that, and any threat to be an excuse to skip their afternoon classes, the seriousness of Monday’s chaos still lingered in the air, prompting the question ‘what if something really did happen?’ in the back of Hays High School’s minds.
