SOUTH PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) — Officials in South Portland are commending students' actions in reporting suspicious activity after the arrest of a teenager, accused of making a threat against the city's high school.
Police on Thursday said they were notified by students of a Snapchat message in which a classmate wrote about "shooting up the school." They later arrested a 15-year-old boy before he arrived at school.
South Portland Superintendent of Schools Ken Kunin said awareness from students and willingness to speak up was crucial in eliminating any potential threat.
"When people see something they should say something and alert us so that we can take action and work to handle any situation that arises," Kunin said. "[In this case,] students came forward, let us know something was going on so that we could follow up and ensure safety."
One student told NEWS CENTER Maine he believes the students who reported the threat should be applauded for their actions.
"Even though maybe [the student's] intentions weren't quite clear, something really bad could've happened," the student said. "I think those kids should definitely be praised for coming forward and being honest with what they saw."
Kunin said the school department strives to form strong relationships with students in order to maintain a safe environment and takes action as quickly as possible when made aware of a serious threat.
"[A] student posted some things on social media — whether they're credible threats or not credible threats, we're not going to wait and find out," Kunin said. "We're going to take action first and then investigate."
South Portland Police Lt. Frank Clark also stressed the importance of reporting suspicious activity.
"When it comes to any sort of threats – against anybody, really, but our schools here, in particular – we need everybody to stand up to read those messages, to not make assumptions that they're just joking, even if they retracted something that must not be their actual intent," Lt. Clark said. "We want them to call us because we need to be able to investigate these things. That's why we're here."