District: Berg student's comments deemed not threat

A perceived gun threat on Berg Middle School Monday night has been deemed unfounded by school administrators and Newton police.

NCSD Superintendent Bob Callaghan said Tuesday a parent of a BMS student informed a teacher at a softball game Monday night about the possible threat. The teacher informed administrators who immediately contacted the Newton Police Department. He said the district takes every perceived threat "very seriously."

Following an investigation by police and school leaders, Callaghan released the following statement to Berg parents and the Newton Daily News Tuesday morning:

"Last night, Berg administration was made aware of a potential threat to Berg Middle School. Local law enforcement was notified immediately and a full investigation was done last night. Newton Police Officers verified that there is no threat. Administration and the police department work very closely and take these matters very seriously. We want to thank the patrons who were proactive in reporting this incident immediately. Again, there is no threat but will always keep the safety of our students a priority."

According to NPD Lt. Bill Henninger, police located the student who allegedly made comments toward a peer pertaining to recent school shootings nationwide. The reporting student and parent perceived the comments as a threat on the school. Investigators met with the student overnight at their home. Callaghan said the student and their parents were cooperative.

Henninger said Tuesday the exchange between the two students happened via social media.

"What we found was a child made a statement to another child, and that information was passed on through a Facebook post. We followed up, there is no threat, and we’re confident there’s nothing to be afraid of at this point," Henninger said. "We investigated, and we determined that it’s a child that made a statement. We looked at the brevity of the statement and whether or not it credible. All of the other information that’s circling around, we’ve determined that it’s not credible. If it was my son or granddaughter going to school today, I would send them because I’m confident that there was no threat. Because of the times we live in, we have to take these things seriously."

Henninger said due to the current climate surrounding gun violence at schools nationwide, comments have to be analyzed.

"Because of what happened in Texas last week, a statement or utterance of this caliber will evoke fear in people, and it needs to be addressed right away." he said. "But we also addressed it later on in the evening. At face value it was disturbing, but later on, we figured out that there’s no threat. I can assure you the child now understands the brevity of that statement. They understand even making a comment like that, it’s not acceptable in any way shape or form."

Editor's Note: NDN Reporter David Dolmage contributed to this report.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@newtondailynews.com