The Troubling Reality of Ongoing School Threats

Just last week, Nashville passed the six-month anniversary of the Covenant School shooting — making a recent spate of threats of mass violence in schools even more alarming.

While such incidents are not necessarily uncommon, more than a dozen ultimately unrealized threats have been made toward Nashville schools since August. Their sources can range from student social media posts to possible out-of-state actors calling in false threats to garner a police response. The Metro Nashville Police Department is currently working with the FBI to investigate a recent series of threats made toward schools and other entities. 

Hunters Lane High School and Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School both received phone threats on Sept. 13, the latter resulting in a lockdown and SWAT-style sweep. 

“It’s just really traumatizing for the kids, and it’s very scary, and it’s just sad that we’ve normalized this,” says Councilmember At-Large Delishia Porterfield, whose daughter attends MLK.

Some critics think police responded too heavily at MLK, further traumatizing children with an aggressive approach. Porterfield isn’t one of them.

“I think [MNPS and MNPD] handled it as best as they could — it’s an impossible situation to handle,” says Porterfield. “My frustration is with the legislators that can make changes so that this isn’t so frequent, so that people don’t have just complete and utter access to guns.”

On Sept. 25, John Overton High School went on lockdown after two phone calls reported an active shooter. The threat was determined to be unfounded, and an Overton freshman was later charged with threatening mass violence, making a false report and abusing the 911 system. A new state law implements a zero-tolerance approach that subjects students who threaten mass violence to expulsion. MNPS’ threat assessment policy is laid out in its student handbook, which includes a multistep process determining the level of each threat, the subsequent action required and the necessary school responses.

MNPS recently sent out a letter urging parents to discuss with their children the seriousness of making such threats. It also urged students and parents not to share rumors online.

“While we know the likelihood of a phone or social media threat being credible is extremely low, our schools and the police department must take them seriously until proven otherwise,” reads the letter from MNPS Director of Schools Adrienne Battle. “MNPS isn’t the only school district experiencing these problems.”

A surprising voice in the Overton High situation has been that of the Uvalde Foundation for Kids, a Dallas-based nonprofit created after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Texas. WSMV reported that the nonprofit was initially critical of MNPS’ response to the threat, citing insufficient communication and requesting a procedural review. The foundation planned a related rally that was later canceled.

MNPS spokesperson Sean Braisted shared the response time of the Overton incident, noting that MNPD initially called the school at 12:10 p.m., and that parents received a callout from the school by 12:47 p.m. Additional messages were sent at 1:07 p.m. and 4:38 p.m. Braisted also questioned the legitimacy of the Uvalde Foundation for Kids and its founder Daniel Chapin, sharing with the Scene an investigation of the organization by the East Lansing Info — a Michigan-based citizen-run nonprofit newsroom. The investigation, which isn’t particularly thorough, highlights peculiarities about the foundation, including Chapin’s elusive nature. 

The Scene reached out to Chapin, who criticized the ELi article and MNPS’ “attempt to divert attention to the true issue.” When asked for more information about his professional background, Chapin sent a link to an Amazon author page. The ELi article questions some of the experiences listed in Chapin’s Amazon bio — particularly his claim to have been a “stress/grief first responder” at the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. 

Though Braisted questioned “if Mr. Chapin represents any actual parents of Overton, or that the Uvalde Foundation for Kids is anyone beyond Mr. Chapin,” the website lists board members, including board president Michael Stevens. Stevens spoke in Nashville in June at a Metro Council-sanctioned gun violence and school safety meeting led by then-Councilmember Jeff Syracuse. Syracuse is an advisory board member of the foundation who says he’s had a positive experience.

MNPS and MNPD respond to each school threat on a case-by-case basis. Those who see or know about suspicious behavior are encouraged to report it to schools and the police department.

“People need to realize that we take these seriously and that we do investigate every single threat to try to determine the person that made the threat so that charges could be brought,” says MNPD spokesperson Brooke Reese.