Penn High alerts parents to another threat at the Mishawaka school

Tribune Staff Report

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Penn High School

Tribune File Photo/Margarita Bilbrey

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Feb 1, 2008 at 7:04 AM EST

Story Updated: Feb 1, 2008 at 7:25 AM EST

MISHAWAKA — Parents of students at Penn High School are being notified about a threat found Tuesday written on a boy’s bathroom stall.

“This time its for real,” the message read. “Everyone dies. 4/18/08.”

The message was written in ink in 6-inch letters that were difficult to read. There was a box drawn around it, according to an alert on the Penn Web site.

Teresa Carroll, a spokeswoman for the Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp., said that information is being sent home to parents and posted on the Internet.

“What happens is students realize they can create a lot of havoc,” Carroll said. “There’s publicity and parents will pull their kids out of school.”

This is the second message of its kind at Penn this school year. The first date came and went, but did stir up concern from parents and students.

Many students elected to take that day off from school.

“It’s unfortunate,” Carroll said, “because it creates a fear in the community that’s unfounded.”

Carroll said it is nearly impossible to reasonably identify a culprit in these cases. There is no way to put surveillance cameras in the restrooms.

Carroll said that school officials have no reason to believe the threat is credible. Still, they plan to use extra security April 18.

“The thing is we still have to take these things seriously,” Carroll said. “We’re not done with it yet.”

Anyone with information regarding the message is asked to call Director of Safety and Security Randy Yohn at (574) 258-9551 or the Safe School PartnerLine at (574) 258-9536.

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