Special to the NEWS
San Benito area law enforcement agencies and other first responders descended to the South Texas Independent School District’s (STISD) Rising Scholars campus located on Paso Real/Helen Moore Rd. in San Benito on Monday in reference to an alleged threat made against the district.
Classes were in session when the San Benito campus was swarmed by officers and vehicles which secured the area.
By 3:50 p.m. on Monday, the San Benito Police Department (SBPD) provided an update of the situation on the department’s Facebook page. “This situation has been resolved, and at this time, there is no active threat to the school,” read a SBPD social media statement.
According to the SBPD, the threat came in the form of an email.
“We are actively investigating an email received by the Rising Scholars staff in regard to a bomb threat on South Helen Moore Road,” read the SBPD’s statement.
“At this time, all students are safe, and we are working to secure the building grounds. We will send out additional information on where to pick up students soon. We ask that all parents remain calm as we secure the grounds,” the SBPD’s statement concludes.
On its Facebook page, STISD updated its posts throughout the day, indicated that a lockdown was issued for all STISD campuses.
“Please know that all STISD campuses are currently under lockdown,” the statement read. “We, along with many other Valley school districts received an email alerting us to the presence of explosives at our campuses. STISD is currently working with local law enforcement agencies in the various jurisdictions where our campuses are located, and all emergency protocols are being followed.”
The district’s initial statement continued, “Safety is our number one priority, and we take all threats seriously. We will provide additional information as we continue to investigate alongside law enforcement.”
An updated statement posted later in the day read, “We thank you for your patience as we worked alongside local law enforcement this morning to investigate email threats. Many school districts across the RGV received these same threats. Following our protocols, all schools immediately went into lockdown.”
The Facebook post went on to read, “Sweeps of all campuses have been completed, and as per the direction of the local law enforcement agencies, the lockdowns at all campuses have now been lifted.”
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