On 11/17/2015 the Cedar Hill Police Department was made aware of a potential threat to the Cedar Hill High School which was posted to the social media platform, Twitter. The threat indicated that a weapon, specifically a gun, would be involved. Based on the information, the Cedar Hill ISD was notified and we began working to determine the legitimacy of the threat and the person(s) responsible. The safety and welfare of the students and ISD staff were of the utmost concern.
During the investigation, we learned that the Arlington Police Department was also conducting a similar investigation and we began working with them to determine if the two offenses were somehow linked.
After a swift and thorough investigation, we were able to identify a 15 year old male from Arlington as the suspect in our offense. Likewise, the Arlington Police Department identified a juvenile from Cedar Hill as the suspect in one of their offenses. The investigation revealed that this was a joint effort between both students, who are related, to prevent going to school.
Our suspect was taken into custody on 11/18/15 and transported to the Dallas County Juvenile Detention Center on a 3rd degree Felony offense of Terroristic Threats. Detectives were also able to recover the phone that was used to commit the offense.
Our thanks to the Arlington Police Department for the cooperative atmosphere of sharing information which has helped bring cases in both cities to a close.
We are troubled, however, that students would create such a scheme which has caused a great deal of fear and uncertainty within our schools. We want our community to know that we take any and all threats to our students and schools very seriously and will devote whatever resources are necessary to ensure their safety. We hope that this event will serve as a deterrent to those who may consider doing something similar in the future.