School districts investigate threats from students on social media

KATY, Texas (FOX 26) - Schools in the Houston area are still dealing with threats following the deadly mass shooting in Florida.

On Monday, a third student in Fort Bend County was arrested for social media posts he made over the weekend.

The 15-year-old student is also the second student from Harmony Science Academy - Katy arrested since Friday.

“He made the threat because the 15-year-old we arrested on Friday was a friend of his -- a pal, and he was very upset,” said Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls.

Also on Monday, Katy Independent School District police began investigating photos on social media showing a student from Taylor High School holding guns.

Dr. Lance Hindt, superintendent at Katy ISD, said the photos were originally posted on Jan. 8 and they were targeted by another student from the same school.

“Another student who captured the screenshot, posted the pictures with some captions that indicated that the student was a threat to Taylor High School,” Dr. Hindt told Fox 26 News.

Hindt added the original photos did not have captions and the weapons seen in the photos were pellet and soft air guns.

The altered post was discovered on Monday evening. Hours later, the student in the original post and the one who added the caption were identified. Both students were not at school on Tuesday.

“We believe that other students have this caption as well or caption of the screenshot, and we will deal with each one appropriately,” added Hindt.

An e-mail was sent to parents on Monday evening about the investigation. Melissa Reyes’ daughter is a freshman at Taylor High School. Reyes says the e-mail was disturbing and she's glad the district has stepped up patrols at the school.

 “With everything that happened last week, I just want to kids to understand the seriousness of it. That there’s not joking about it,” said Reyes.