By: Shreeya Aranake
Rumors about a shooting on an unknown campus in the Bay Area were sparked by a post on Snapchat, according to Sergeant Bryan Hinkley. The post was a picture of a suicide note in the bathroom that said “I am committing suicide in three days,” Hinkley said.
Only through rumors, did a threat of a school shooting somewhere in Milpitas or San Jose come about, Hinkley said. There was no actual written threat of a school shooting about to take place; rather, the threat was created through hearsay, Hinkley continued. Milpitas Police were notified of the note at 7AM on March 2, Hinkley added.
The Milpitas Police looked through any footage given to them by MHS in order to investigate who wrote the suicide note in the bathroom, Hinkley explained. Throughout the day of March 2, just about every police officer was stationed on the MHS campus, and no official lockdown request was given by the Milpitas Police to MHS, according to Hinkley. There is no evidence of malicious intent by the people who took the picture and posted it on social media, Hinkley said.
Admin were notified of the suicide note in the bathroom on the morning of Wednesday, February 28, according to Assistant Principal Andrea Hutchison. On the morning of March 2, they were notified of posts on social media that said that students were afraid to go to school that day, Hutchison said.
“First, a student posted a picture of writing on the bathroom wall on their social media,” Hutchison said. “Then, someone else had put comments on the social media post about the bathroom that implied that someone could be bringing a gun on campus and everyone should be careful (although the initial writing said nothing about a weapon or location).”
Many students as well as their families used the post that implied that someone could be bringing a gun on campus to determine that coming to school on March 2 would be unsafe, Hutchison said.
“The social media posts grew in numbers and in intensity and not only were students alarmed, so were their families,” Hutchison said. “It was a large leap from the initial statement on the bathroom wall to where it ended up. Unfortunately, because of recent events not only in our school, but across the nation, people are frightened and it only takes a small spark to ignite a firestorm of fear.”
From this experience, the admin has learned that people must be educated on social media responsibility, Hutchison said. People must know the consequences of their posts, Hutchison added.
“Truthfully we learned that people need education into social media responsibility,” Hutchison said. “It is so important that people think about the consequences, both intended and unintended, of their posts.”