After School Shooting Threat Noblesville Community Calls For Action

About 100 people gathered Saturday to address a racially motivated school shooting threat made against Noblesville High School on Friday.

The threat came just days after a judge ordered a former student to juvenile detention for shooting his teacher and classmate at a Noblesville middle school.

"Emotions are raw, and it is just very unfortunate –– it’s discouraging, it’s frustrating," says Lisa Sobek, a leader with the Noblesville Diversity Coalition. "We want people to come here and talk about their feelings and open up and have an organic place where we can help people get through this."

Attendees were split into small groups to talk about racism in the community at the Noblesville branch of Ivy Tech Community College. A Noblesville schools spokesperson said in a statement the written threat, found Friday in a bathroom stall, "involved ugly, derogatory racial statements" and referenced a school shooting on Monday.

Parent Janina Pettiford says people must have honest conversations about race.

"I believe that the conversations were productive but now there have to be actions to back those conversations," Pettiford says.

Pettiford says people must speak out if they sense something is going on with a student to make sure nothing like the Noblesville West Middle School shooting happens again. In May, a 13-year-old student shot a teacher and classmate multiple times with a handgun in a classroom. The shooter was sent to a juvenile program with Department of Corrections earlier this week.

In response to the shooting, Noblesville recently passed a referendum for $50 million to pay for increased school safety and mental health services in its schools.

After Friday's threat, Noblesville Superintendent Beth Niedermeyer says the district is discussing further changes in practice.

"So what do we need to do to be inclusive in all of our actions? How do we need to respond to certain situations?" Niedermeyer says. "And really giving our staff the education and background they need to be successful in those situations."

Police detained a student suspected of writing the threat Friday and the district is starting expulsion proceedings.

Noblesville High School classes will go on as planned Monday, but there will be an increased police presence. The school will also offer counseling sessions for students.

The incident brings together two issues state lawmakers are expected to debate in the 2019 General Assembly: school safety funding and crimes motivated by bias. 

Indiana is one of five states without hate crime legislation –– something Governor Eric Holcomb has pushed as a priority in the upcoming legislative session.