The investigation of the alleged school threat against Hastings Area Schools had been ongoing since Thursday evening and was concluded Saturday evening.

 

Hastings Chief of Police Dale Boulter said during the investigation, officers interviewed over 50 people about the alleged threats while working closely with school administration. During this process, the department was able to locate where the original conversation and comments took place along with the original post to social media. It was also determined that the implied threat of a school shooting was found to not be a valid depiction of the conversation.

 

Chief Boulter said "While I cannot divulge the final outcome of the investigation, nor release names, I can say with confidence that there is no threat to the Hastings School District related to reports we received on Thursday. The final report will be submitted to the Barry County Prosecutor on Monday for review."

 

"Each person in the Hastings School District, the Hastings Police Department and the Hastings School Administration takes each matter of school safety very seriously. This incident caused many disruptions throughout the school district, affected the community and spread the fear of becoming another statistic. The fear generated by these types of incidents is expected due to current events across the nation and here in our own state."

 

"The safety of each school district depends on students, parents and community members using the correct channels of communication when reporting any type of active violence information. I do not want to discourage anyone from speaking up if they are in fear, or suspect information they’ve received may signify any type of school violence. In such situations, I encourage people to use the proper channels to deliver the information as quickly as possible to law enforcement or school administration. The sooner law enforcement or school staff receives the information, the safer students, staff and community members will be."