House calls were made to Lincoln middle and high school parents and students following a shooting threat Monday morning.
There were multiple cops in uniform and there were also cops undercover as substitute teachers for the ones that didn't come, and there were even cops hiding throughout the school.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, nearly 2,000 Leon County middle and high school students stayed home or were taken out of school due to separate threats of violence posted through social media accounts.
“Is it real? Do I send my child to school? If I do, what if something happens?,” said Natalie Robertson, mother of Trevin Robertson.
Trevin Robertson, a senior at Lincoln High School, said he found out about the threats through Instagram on Sunday night.
“Initially I thought that this was a joke, no one is seriously going to come and shoot up the school and whoever is doing this doesn't realize the trouble that this joke is going to get them into,” Robertson said.
Robertson said he did not go to school on Monday because after talking with a lot of his friends, he realized that a lot of people weren't going to be there.
Orlando Burch, a Dropout Prevention Teacher, first heard of the threat via WCTV. His initial response was that it was a hoax because the threat gave the date and time of the threat.
“Usually, a group or race of people are named but rarely the date and time it will happen.”
Robertson explained why he felt safe returning back to school.
“Tuesday January 26, our principal, Allen Burch, came onto the school's morning news and said that our safety is his number one concern, and we would never have school if he knew that we would be in some kind of danger.”
He added that for the four years that Burch has been there, he developed a trust and assurance for what he says.
“After having him for a principal for four years and getting to know him more and more each year, I can truly say that he meant every word when he said that because to him we are like his children,” Robertson said.
Burch listed ways that could prevent a threat like this from turning into a real-life tragedy. He suggested to limit the number of ways to access the school and identify every person that enters the school.
“Educate the students on hoaxes and threats that can disrupt the learning environment and, possibly, that can harm or kill people,” Burch said.