On Monday, November 29th, a student of Lincoln Elementary brought a loaded gun and told classmates. After hearing of it, the teacher quickly confiscated the gun and called Fargo police. The school went into a brief lockdown as the gun was obtained by police. Principal Megan Kiser says the student is suspended while this is investigated further.

There have been some recent threats through the form of phone calls to Valley News Live’s Whistleblower Hotline. Police say there is no connection between these reports and the gun incident.

 Fargo Public Schools made a statement regarding the incident detailing “School administration followed Administrative Policy 6320 and have suspended the student in order to complete an investigation and determine any further action. Administration worked collaboratively with the Fargo Police Department regarding this incident today.” Principal Megan Kiser made a similar comment in an email sent to parents.

On December 7th there was also an anonymous threat posted on Snapchat for a shooting at Cheney Middle School during 8th grade lunch.  The post said there would be four people helping. The next day (the day of the planned shooting), Cheney went virtual. Police and administration had a press release saying how seriously they were taking it, and that they reached out to both Snapchat and Google. Police took two juveniles into custody in relation to the threat, however they were said to be unrelated.

These events are particularly controversial in light of the recent school shooting in Michigan. This resulted in the death of four students and the injury of seven others. The media has been suspicious of the parents playing a part in the deaths with how insecure and accessible the gun was. Parents of the Lincoln student are under similar observation. 

There has also been a recent TikTok trend to shoot or bomb schools on the 17th. There is not a specific school, rather a general threat as it is a nation wide trend. On the day of the 17th and email was sent out to parents confirming that the school recognized the threat was present, and that security would be increases. Students and staff were told not to worry as there was nothing concrete threatening the Fargo Public School district, however everyone should remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior.