Gun threat sparks additional BHSN police patrols

The Bloomington Police Department will increase patrols at Bloomington High School North for two days during the next few months.

Police patrols will increase as a result of  school staff finding a shooting threat written in one of the school’s bathrooms.

An unidentified suspect drew a picture of a gun and wrote “Next shooting, 10:40 5/10/2011” inside a bathroom stall, BPD Lt. Bill Parker said.

Someone reported the written message to school officials Tuesday after school had ended at about 4 p.m.

Parker said police met with school officials, and the school requested extra police officer patrols for May 10.

That means squad cars would drive through the parking lot during their shifts looking for suspicious activity and making themselves visible.

This measure comes in addition to the four school security personnel currently employed by Bloomington High School North.

There are also regular officers from the COPS in Schools program in the school at certain times.

COPS in Schools is a community-building program where officers enter area high schools and middle schools during various times of the day to interact with students, Parker said.

As part of the investigation, police and school officials will review hallway video surveillance to see if they can find out who wrote the statement, Parker said.

Bloomington North’s principal Jeffry Henderson sent an email message to parents Wednesday morning talking about the incident and about the school’s security.

It mentioned increased security measures installed during winter break and also  encouraged parents and students to stay aware of their surroundings.

The email asks parents to make sure their students inform school staff “of any situation in which they feel that safety is being compromised in any way.”

Bloomington High School North officials also requested extra patrols for April 15, though there wasn’t any specific threat, Parker said. School officials told police they were worried about April 16.

April 16 is the anniversary date of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting.