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After local schools issued a secure campus order due to a potential threat, officials made it clear that there was no imminent risk of violence. Then the nonprofit that originally informed officials of the threat released a press release heralding the incident as the 19th school shooting they thwarted, a claim officials refute.
On Sept. 10, several local schools were placed on secure campus orders after an anonymous report through Menlo-Atherton High School’s “See Something, Say Something” tip line. The hotline is operated by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit dedicated to ending gun violence at schools, and flagged a former Menlo-Atherton student who posted “concerning content” about the school on social media.
Atherton police located the individual the same day and the secure campus orders were lifted. School instruction continued while the individual was located. The former Menlo-Atherton student, who is currently a student at another local school, was later placed in a medical facility for psychiatric treatment.
But on Sept. 22, Sandy Hook Promise published a press release claiming the Sept. 10 incident was the 19th planned school shooting the organization has stopped through its tipline.
“A California community prevented a school shooting after a student reported a threat via Sandy Hook Promise’s Say Something Anonymous Reporting System recently. The student recognized the warning signs among a peer’s Instagram posts, took them seriously, and acted immediately to report the threats,” the organization’s press release started. “This set off a swift chain of events that ultimately saved lives.”
The organization said the former Menlo-Atherton student posted “images of firearms, ammunition, and a mapped-out plan for attacking the school.” Sandy Hook Promise also claimed police recovered a firearm.
However, the Atherton Police Department claims there was no firearm in the Instagram post nor did it recover one. Additionally, the Sequoia Union High School District said in a message to parents that there was no detailed plan for any violence.
“The individual making the threat included a map of M-A, but the threat did not express any sense of immediacy or an impending timeline,” Superintendent Crystal Leach said in her message to parents.
Despite this, Sandy Hook Promise claimed Atherton was “saved from the trauma of a school shooting because of the brave actions of upstanders that chose to say something.”
Leach and the Atherton Police Department maintain there was never an active threat to students or staff at Menlo-Atherton High School.
“At no time has there been an ongoing threat to the public,” the Atherton Police Department said in a press release.
Following the press release from Sandy Hook Promise, ABC 7 reported that a planned school attack was prevented and that police recovered a weapon. It has since issued a correction to clarify the nonprofit claims an attack was prevented and that police say no weapon was recovered.
“Last evening ABC 7 News did a story on the Secure Campus, prompted by a release of information from Sandy Hook Promise that we were not informed about, and, unfortunately, ABC’s story included incorrect and incomplete information,” Leach said.
Leach claims that the district was not consulted before the press release was issued.
“Sandy Hook Promise has been a vital partner in helping our students and staff recognize warning signs of potential violence. We are grateful that Sandy Hook’s Say Something Anonymous Reporting system made swift action by local law enforcement and school administrators possible,” she added in her email to community members.
Sandy Hook Promise is a non-profit led by family members affected by the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor has it issued a retraction.
While the threat only referenced Menlo-Atherton, Carlmont High School in Belmont, the lower campus of Laurel Elementary School and Encinal Elementary School were all placed under secure campus orders as a precaution.
