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WORLAND — Notification of a threat via the Safe2Tell app resulted in Worland High School going into a lockout first thing Tuesday morning.

According to a press release by the Worland Police Department, “On Monday evening law enforcement officials and the school district received an anonymous tip through the Wyoming “Safe2Tell” system about a potential threat of violence at the Worland High School. Local law enforcement immediately began working with school officials in conducting a threat assessment based on the information received.”

According to a press release from Washakie County School District No. 1, over the past few days the district, working in collaboration with local law enforcement officials, had received information concerning a potential safety issue at the high school Tuesday morning.

“To insure the safety of students and staff while the matter was being investigated, we determined to go into a lockout beginning at 8 a.m. At 8:35 a.m., after further assessing the situation and establishing safety of the campus, the lockout was lifted,” according to the release.

Business Manager Jack Stott said the administration conducted a search Monday evening and early Tuesday morning.

Stott added that the investigation into the incident is ongoing but that there was no longer an immediate concern.

According to the WPD release, law enforcement assisted with security of the schools while investigating the tip. The investigation determined there was no credible threat of violence, however, previous threats of violence were discovered and a juvenile male was identified as a suspect. The case has been forwarded to the Washakie County Attorney’s Office for review.”

Capt. Zack Newton said since the case is ongoing, details regarding the exact threat were not being release at this time.

“The Worland Police Department and Washakie County Sheriff’s Office take threats of violence seriously, respond to and investigate these threats immediately. It is of the utmost importance for us to make sure that students, teachers and staff are safe, to assure that they will feel safe and to assure that the person making the threats will be supervised and given the treatment that is appropriate and necessary to avoid future danger to others or themselves,” the WPD said in the prepared release.

Stott said that Tuesday morning’s lockout affected all buildings on the campus including the high school, administration building, middle school and Worland Aquatic Center.

According to the release, “In accordance with District safety protocols, the other schools and surrounding entities were notified of the lockout.”

The district, through the release added, “We appreciate the care and concern given to the situation by the high school administration and local law enforcement.”

WHAT IS SAFE2TELL?

Safe2Tell Wyoming Program Manager Bill Morse said in a talk in January in Worland that the program was approved by the Wyoming Legislature in 2016 after legislation failed in 2015 due to lack of funding. He said he was able to secure funding with the Office of Homeland Security so they brought the bill back in 2016.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol is the 24-hour, seven-day-a-week answering point for the program.

The program is modeled after Colorado’s Safe2Tell program. Morse noted that Colorado is developing a national model.

The goal of the program, Morse said, is to “intervene at the earliest possible point in the life of a young person who is struggling, helping when they need it before the situation turns into a tragedy.”

How can they intervene? With Safe2Tell Wyoming students can intervene anonymously and confidentially by sending a message through the Safe2Tell Wyoming mobile app, through the website or by calling 1-844-996-7233 (1-844-WYO-SAFE).

The mission of Safe2Tell Wyoming is “to ensure that all Wyoming students, parents, teachers and community members have access to a safe and confidential way to report any concerns about their safety or the safety of others, with a focus on early intervention and prevention through awareness and education,” Morse said.

HOW IT WORKS

When a message is received from Safe2Tell Wyoming the dialogue box is left open for at least six minutes but each time a person responds, whether on the dispatcher side or the person providing the tip, the timer restarts.

A person using the mobile app selects a town and then a school where the incident is taking place or where the person is from. They then select the event type that can be alcohol, anger, animal cruelty, assault, bullying, child abuse, crisis, cyber bullying, dating violence, depression, discrimination, ditching, domestic violence, drugs, eating disorder, explosives, fighting , fire starting, gangs, graffiti, guns, harassment, homicide, knife, planned fights, planned parties, planned school attack, reckless driving, school complaint, sexting, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stealing, suicide threats, teasing, test tip, vehicle theft, weapons and other.

Once the WHP receives a tip it is delivered to the school involved. Tips are also faxed to law enforcement within a few minutes, Morse said.

Every school in the state is listed and Morse said the Safe2Tell Wyoming program has school numbers and law enforcement numbers so they can pass along information as needed.

Safe2Tell Wyoming is a way for a student to enter a tip of concern about herself/himself, about another student or about an adult. Adults can use the program, Morse said, but noted “it’s not a way to report an emergency, call 911.”