There is chaos in Houston's school, several school districts are on alert

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – There were hectic scenes at Sharpstown International School on Friday afternoon after police received a tip about a student possibly armed with a weapon.

At around 12:30 p.m., authorities reacted promptly and cordoned off the school and two nearby school campuses, triggering a wave of panic among parents trying to get their children back.

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Caedan Griffin, an eighth-grader at Sharpstown, described the chaos. “Other kids were running out of the school. I thought, crazy… running out?!” Griffin said. “I was just hoping to live to see another day. I just wanted to live to see another day.”

The curfew triggered a frenzy of activity and parents flocked to the school. Some reported that they had not received any notification from the school, while others had.

“I was very, very scared. We had just had a school shooting and I was very nervous,” said Chandra Harris, who spoke to FOX 26 after picking up her daughter from campus.

HISD police conducted a thorough search of the premises and found no weapons or credible threats. One adult was arrested during the investigation.

Darren McCall, head of the HISD police department, reassured the public: “We want to reassure parents of the safety of their children. When classes resume on Monday, we will deploy additional patrols to ensure the safety of staff and students.”

This incident is part of a disturbing trend. This week alone, schools in Klein, Houston and Channelview ISDs have been affected by similar threats and subsequent lockdowns. In one notable case, a Channelview student was arrested and charged with a crime.

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Data from TDR, a technology company specializing in school safety and threat prevention, shows a sharp increase in false threats following recent high-profile school shootings, including the deadly shooting in Winder, Georgia.

“We've seen a very high number of these threats this week,” TDR CEO Don Beeler said of the increase. “They're happening all over the United States.”

According to TDR, there were more than 100 arrests in the US last week alone of students who believed they could avoid detection by using anonymous or fake social media accounts.

Craig Straw, director of safety and emergency management at HISD, stressed the seriousness of such threats: “Today, with today's technology, if you give such information, you will find that you will be found and, depending on the threatening behavior you make, you will be held accountable by the criminal justice system. That is not acceptable.”

The economic impact of these threats is significant. TDR reports that fake threats can cost American school districts up to $500 million annually in lost instruction, not including the cost of police and emergency responders.