Watch Your Back

What the hell is happening to our beloved school district?

Text messages among students warning of a retaliation and a shootout at Keller Central High School have resulted in an expanded police presence Friday at the campus in north Fort Worth.

No reports of any violence were reported by 10:15 a.m., but extra officers were sent to the school as a precaution, said Sgt. Pedro Criado, police spokesman. The school is at 9450 Ray White Road.

Shellie Johnson, schools spokeswoman, said administrators heard that the threat related to the shooting death earlier this week of a former CHS student.

Derek Splawn, 18, was fatally shot Tuesday afternoon at a north Fort Worth apartment complex.

Police said he was armed with a baseball bat as he forced his way into an apartment to confront an 18-year-old man who lived there.

A parent gave the Star-Telegram a copy of one of the texts. It stated: “Theres supposed to be a shooting at school today. skip if you can. Be extremely careful if you cant.”

Johnson said that she did not know if students were skipping school to avoid trouble.

Keller police were also at the school and metal detectors were used to screen students as they arrived. Classes were continuing and some students were taking TAKS tests, Johnson said.

Officers were also trying to locate the student who sent out the original text to learn more about it, Criado said.

Johnson said Splawn was a former CHS student who was enrolled at the New Directions Learning Center, an alternative campus.

He was killed at a north Fort Worth apartment after he reportedly forced his way inside, armed with an aluminum bat.

Police said Splawn was angry with a man who lived there and he reportedly threatened in an earlier telephone conversation “that he was tired of this and he was going to come over there,” police said.

But once inside, police said, Splawn suffered a shotgun blast to the face and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The shooting was still under investigation on Friday, Criado said.

The first words that came to mind when I read this aren’t fit to print.  The second thought was (yeah, I’m a little sensitive) there isn’t any way that Keller PD is at Central, since it’s in Ft. Worth.  The third thing that came to my mind was all of this great planning and zoning by the City of Ft. Worth in their buildout of North Ft. Worth has us now wondering if the district has lost control of these students.

UPDATE:  12:12pm  Guess I was wrong, Keller PD is at Central helping FWPD out. 

Dear Central High School Parents/Guardians,

 

I am writing this letter to address an incident involving an alleged threat that was rumored to occur against our campus today, but fortunately did not. 

 

Fort Worth and Keller Police Departments as well as KISD administrators were aware of reported texts messages among CHS students alleging that a shooting retaliation would occur. The retaliation was rumored to be in response to the shooting death of a New Direction (former CHS) student earlier this week at a Fort Worth apartment complex. Police have no evidence to support that there was ever an actual threat to CHS.  However we take all threats seriously in an effort to maintain the safest learning environment for our students.   

 

FWPD increased its presence on our campus and metal detectors were deployed. Officers from Keller PD participated in surveillance as well.  The campus was not put into lockdown at anytime today.

 

We have received numerous phone calls from concerned parents due to continued rumors stemming from the incident. I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that we have no reason to believe that our students or faculty are in danger, but as a parent you have the right to remove your child from school.

 

Student safety is our number one priority in Keller ISD.  All of us are committed to our students and to their safety.

UPDATE 2:  If you read the article in this weekends edition of the FWST, you will notice that the Keller PD is mentioned only in a support role.  The reporter might have rethought his story a little after I emailed him on Friday questioning his stance about Keller PD being at the school.