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Goochland addresses rumored National School Walk Out threat

Posted at 8:00 AM, Mar 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-14 08:00:28-04

GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. — Goochland County Public Schools addressed a rumored violent threat surrounding Wednesday’s National School Walk Out.

The threat, according to concerned parents who contacted CBS 6, circulated on social media and indicated students who walked out of class Wednesday to remember those killed in the Parkland high school shooting and protest gun violence would themselves be targeted by violence.

The school system addressed the rumors in a Wednesday morning Facebook post.

Last night, there were rumors on local social media regarding a potential threat to students in our school division. When reports of this nature are made, our school division takes them seriously and immediately works in partnership with the Goochland County Sheriff’s Office to investigate.

If a credible threat exists, we communicate that to parents and staff. After receiving reports of these rumors last night, we were in close contact and had ongoing communication with Sheriff’s Office staff.

These rumors are unsubstantiated and there is no credible threat to our students or staff at this time.

As noted in our previous communications, the safety and well-being of our students and staff is, and will always be, the priority for our school division. We have worked in collaboration with local law enforcement and first responders to develop a proactive safety plan that is in place to provide students a safe venue if they voluntarily choose to walk out today.

Students across the country are expected to walk out of their classrooms Wednesday morning to protest gun violence. The National School Walkout is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in every time zone and last for 17 minutes — a minute for each life lost in the Parkland school shooting.

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