The girls were booked Wednesday at juvenile hall on a misdemeanor charge of communicating threats. Their names were not released, due to their ages.
Five of the students, 12- and 13-year olds, attended Carson Middle School. The other attended Eagle Valley Middle School. At the same time, 18 students in total accepted the invitation to participate in the attacks at the two schools. The attacks had been set to take place from 7 AM to 9 PM Friday. A parent brought the post to the attention to authorities.
The students insisted the posting was a joke. However, in this day and age, there is no room for these sorts of "jokes." On Wednesday, the day the girls were arrested, a suspended 17-year-old student in Omaha, Nebraska, fatally shot an vice-principal and wounded the principal before fleeing the scene and taking his own life.
Carson Middle School Principal Dan Sadler said,
"School shootings really happen. That's why we took it seriously. It's not OK, and it's not funny in this day and age if you're going to make a threat against a teacher."Carson City sheriff's Deputy Jessica Rivera, the school district's resource officer, added,
"Even if the six girls meant it as a joke, there's no way to know if the other students who accepted the invitation weren't going to carry out the attacks in some fashion. The school shooting in Nebraska is just another thing that shows us you can't take this kind of situation lightly."Teachers were mystified: the six girls were good students. In fact, some held leadership positions; others had top grades.
Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said:
"They made some pretty violent comments about some teachers, and this isn't even close to a joke. Children's stresses are so great that they can act out on their frustrations. Parents need to monitor what their kids are doing on communication devices."
