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Online threat prompts lockdowns at two schools in Acadiana, not intended targets

Lafayette High School.jpg
Posted at 10:08 AM, Oct 29, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-29 16:08:06-04

Two schools in Acadiana were placed on lock down due to an online threat. Police and school officials say neither schools were the intended targets of the threat.

In Lafayette, The Lafayette Parish Schools System says that Lafayette High was on lock down Friday morning due to the threat. Officials say the lock down that was in place due to a threat on campus, has been lifted at Lafayette High School as of 10:00 a.m.

LPSS says the school received a social media concern representing another school district. Lafayette Police clarify that the school in which the threat was intended was Livonia High School in Pointe Coupee Parish.

"Out of an abundance of caution, we put the school on lock down. After the threat was thoroughly investigated, we were cleared to resume to our normal instructional schedule. We want to assure you that all students are safe and secure on our campus during this time."

LPSS reports that the lock down lasted one hour.

In St. Landry Parish, Port Barre High School was on soft lock down for a short time in connection to the same online threat.

Port Barre Police Chief Deon Boudreaux says that Lafayette high school and Livonia High School were also placed on temporary lockdown in reference to the same post. All three agencies coordinated and shared information which concluded Lafayette High and Port Barre High were not targets of the post and the lockdown has been lifted.

He says that a Snapchat post was posted by a Livonia high school student. The post indicated the target school as “LHS”. The post appears to be a generic copy and paste type where the name of the school can be changed or edited, he added.

“I’ve spoken to the Livonia police chief, his agency is actively investigating the origins of the post.”

Boudreaux says the poster of the Snapchat image is in Livonia Police custody.

Friday afternoon, Breaux Bridge High School was evacuated just after 2:00 pm due to a bomb threat being found written on a school desk on campus.

Superintendent Alan Blanchard says that the school was cleared of everyone and as of 3:00 pm, he was not alerted that a threat had been found.

Students will be returned to the school once an all clear is given and dismissal as normal will be conducted, he said.

On Thursday, the Jennings Police Department received information of a possible threat against Jennings High School.

Officers say they arrived on scene, evaluated the information and began an investigation. During the course of the investigation, officers say they learned the threat originated from out of state and was against an out of state school not Jennings High School.

"Thanks to the Jennings High High School administration for their swift actions to ensure student safety," they say.

Nationally, instances of the Snapchat threat has caused lockdowns across the country in the last few days. It is unclear if this threat is the same threat that affected Acadiana schools Friday morning.
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