A 13-year-old is in custody in Pine Point for Threats of Violence

By Robert Williams

Editor

The Frazee Police Department and Becker County Sheriff’s Department responded to a threat of violence at Frazee-Vergas High School after threatening graffiti was found on a desk.

According to social media reports, the alleged graffiti contained the statement “Shooting on Friday” scratched into a desk.

“It hinted at potential violence today, yes,” said Frazee Chief of Police Tyler Trieglaff.

Extra deputies were brought into the school immediately after the report; while Trieglaff was in constant contact with both Superintendent Terry Karger and Principal Jason Smith.

“We are doing everything that we can and we think somebody knows something; we’re just waiting for that bird to chirp,” Trieglaff said. “We have our suspects and we have some good ideas, but we don’t have that proof.”

Other social media claims stated there had been three separate incidents in Frazee this school year, which is false. Reports from other schools have prompted action.

“No, there was a hoax yesterday that was a repeat from Arkansas on Wednesday. That’s what prompted us,” said Trieglaff.

According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, at least eight students have been charged in the past two weeks with connections to threats against schools.

Trieglaff explained that one of those stories was shared on social media by a Perham student and a student in Frazee was concerned after seeing it and brought that to the attention of school administrators and law enforcement.

The Perham-Dent High School administration and the Perham Police Department were contacted out of an abundance of caution.

“It was nothing, just a repost of a story or whatever,” said Trieglaff.

Concerns were heightened as that report came in within five minutes of the graffiti report in Frazee causing law enforcement to take both seriously.

Trieglaff suspects copycat actions after hearing the Arkansas report that caused someone to scribble a threat on a desk.

Students remained in school Friday. Trieglaff stated the school day has been continuing like a normal school day.

“We can’t live in fear every day of our lives either,” he said. “It’s a hoax. It’s graffiti. It’s kids screwing around, but we still have to take precautions,” he said.

A prior incident was reported at the school last week on Tuesday, Sept. 10. Trieglaff reported that an investigation revealed that the actual threat was made a day before at a school in Ohio. A student from Frazee took a photo of the Ohio online post and shared it with friends. No actual threats were made in Frazee, which is very similar to the alarm that was instigated in Perham but significantly different from Friday morning’s finding.

Extra law enforcement remained on the scene in Frazee Friday as officers continued to work with administration into the afternoon. While two of the three threats have been proven to be hoaxes or social media sharing, the incidents are taxing on local law enforcement as they try to decipher what is a credible threat and what is not.

“It’s draining our resources, but this is priority number one,” said Trieglaff.

One in custody in Pine Point incident

The Becker County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a possible credible school shooting threat at the Pine Point School at approximately 7:02 p.m., on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Pine Point School is located in the area of Ponsford, 30 miles northeast of Frazee.

Pine Point canceled school Friday after the initial report, again out of an abundance of caution. The Becker County Sheriff’s Office investigated the complaint and a 13-year-old female was later taken into custody for a Threats of Violence charge for the statements that were made. From the initial investigation there was no indication of any imminent danger to the school, staff, or students from this incident.

Both incidents remain under investigation.