The Hermiston Police Department took to its Facebook page to dispel rumors of a threat made to Hermiston High School.
In a long post, Lt. Randy Studebaker assured the public that there was never any credible threat made to any of the schools on Thursday.
Studebaker said the rumor appeared to come from a misinterpreted joke between students. With cooperation from the Hermiston School District, the HPD investigated the rumors circulating about a threat to the high school. HPD concluded there is no known threat to local schools.
“The involved student and their family have fully cooperated with this investigation, and even voluntarily allowed us to conduct searches of premises under their control,” said Studebaker.
Studebaker said the rumor started when the joke was passed on and took on a different meaning as it went from one person to the next.
“Ever play the telephone game when you were in school? I’m talking about the one where everybody sits in a circle. One person whispers a message to the person beside them and that message gets relayed around the circle. By the time the message gets back to the beginning, it’s usually completely different than it was when it started. That’s what happened here, with the added elements of an extremely emotional issue and social media.”
For Studebaker’s full post, visit the HPD Facebook page.
