Today, Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz remarked, "Every student and faculty member in a school not only has the right to be safe when at school, but they also have the right to feel safe at school.  It is our duty as law enforcement officers to keep the community safe and reduce the fear of crime.  My officers go to great lengths every day to accomplish this mission."  Recent tragedies in schools have touched the lives of many people in our communities across the nation.  The men and women of the Aurora Police Department are very cognizant of how such tragedy affects a community and our hearts go out to the many victims and survivors of these atrocious incidents.  

In light of recent acts of violence in schools, the Aurora Police Department has investigated an extraordinary number of threats directed toward Aurora’s schools.  With the advent of current technology, the vast majority of these threats have been made on social media platforms.  Individuals have made threats on Snap Chat, Facebook, Twitter, chat rooms, online gaming forums, and via other means.  The Aurora Police Department takes threats of violence towards our schools incredibly serious and we investigate each and every threat that comes to our attention to our fullest ability.

It is believed that some of the individuals making these threats are doing so for attention, as a joke, or for notoriety.  Regardless of their intent, such threats create fear and uncertainty for our students, faculty and parents.  We will not tolerate threats directed towards our schools.  Rather, we will conduct comprehensive investigations utilizing an array of technologies made available to us and we will seek to arrest any person who has made a threat directed towards a school.  The following is a compiled list of recent school threat incidents that have resulted in criminal charges.  Please note that several of the investigations remain open and the offenders are identified as juveniles, therefore releasable information is limited:

-2/17/2018 Corrected date is 2/14/2018, Hinkley High School threat incident, pending charges against one juvenile male

-2/23/2018, North Middle School threat incident, pending charges against one juvenile male

-2/23/2018, North Middle School threat incident, three juvenile females charged in connection with threats

-2/23/2018, Horizon Middle School threat incident, juvenile female charged in connection with threats

Threats to harm students and staff create fear and are not an appropriate way to garner attention.  If you make a threat, APD Officers will work diligently to arrest you.  Many other school threat investigations remain open and we are confident that more arrests will be made.

We continue to work closely with the Cherry Creek School District, Aurora Public Schools, and private institutions to insure the safety of our schools. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Safety in our schools is everyone’s responsibility.  If you see something, say something.  Suspicious or threatening activities, viewed in-person or online, should be reported immediately to our dispatch center by calling 911.  Students, teachers and parents can also report incidents anonymously to Safe2Tell by calling (877) 542-7233.


Officer Bill Hummel
Public Information Officer
Media Relations Unit
(720) 432-5095