State Trooper Dawn Pagan: Still "looking at the full scope of the content and the motivation of that kind of a post."
Two 14-year-old boys at Eli Whitney Technical High — allegedly seeking to provoke a day off from school — were arrested Tuesday after State Police identified them as the individuals behind two separate threats of gun violence spread via Instagram that led to lockdowns Monday and Tuesday.
Unlike with the out-of-state teen found responsible for threats in New Haven this week, “What you’re seeing here is typical,” said state police spokesperson Brian Foley. He described the incidents as students “trying to get the day off.”
“Unfortunately,” he said, “it has severe consequences.”
Both students have been suspended for the maximum ten-day period pending expulsion from Eli Whitney.
Foley made the remarks at a press conference held Tuesday evening outside the school building, where Dr. Ellen Solek, the superintendent of the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System and State Trooper Dawn Pagan answered questions regarding the incidents.
Dr. Ellen Solek, the superintendent of the Connecticut Technical Education and Career System.
Pagan said that both individuals will attend New Haven Juvenile court Wednesday morning on charges of threatening in the first degree and breach of peace in the second degree.
One student, whose threats included racial epithets, was also charged with intimidation based on bigotry and bias in the third degree.
The latter Instagram message, which was discovered Tuesday morning and believed to have been uploaded while the student was physically on campus, Pagan noted, also included language suggesting the person who posted the threat was a target of bullying.
“Not only do we conduct our investigation, but part of that is looking at the full scope of the content and the motivation of that kind of a post,” Pagan said.
Solek thanked the state police, governor’s office, and State Department of Education for their assistance in quickly identifying the two students responsible. “There will be opportunities to discover other students and their involvement as well,” she added, proposing that those two individuals may not have acted alone.
Pagan agreed with Foley’s assessment, that Eli Whitney’s threats were representative of a national trend in which students have been taking to social platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat and posting violent threats to get out of school.
Principal Carlos Aldave, state police spokesperson Brian Foley, and Superintendent Ellen Solek.
Foley elaborated: “Whenever there’s a school shooting in the country that receives a lot of attention we expect these threats to occur in the days and weeks after … Law enforcement handles them as real threats when they get them.”
He said that state troopers will be present at the school Wednesday “to make students know they’re safe.”
In addition to one student resource officer, Eli Whitney High has four guidance counselors, one school psychologist and one social worker on staff for 668 students, according to Principal Carlos Aldave.
During homeroom on Tuesday, students filled out an electronic form declaring whether or not they would like to be matched with a social support.
Aldave said he did not know yet how many people asked for professional assistance. After a recent protest at the high school over sexual assault allegations, a total of 30 students said “yes” on the survey, he said. Eight counselors were subsequently dispatched to the school.
Watch the full press conference here.
If you want this terror campaign of violence and chaos to stop; you must prosecute those arrested to the fullest extent of the law. Violence and disorderder in our schools is out of control; though well-suppressed by the central offices. Anything less and this will continue and escalate. People feel threatened and the education of our youth is suffering. It must be stopped---- now!