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Ashland Police Department Press Release:

Ashland, KY — September 13, 2024 — The Ashland Police Department (APD) has made two additional juvenile arrests in connection with two separate threats involving Ashland schools. These arrests are a direct result of a focused investigation by the APD School Resource Officers, Patrol Officers, and Cyber Crime Unit, which has been working closely with the Ashland Independent School District's IT department and major platforms such as Snapchat, Google, and Facebook.

We want to be very clear: online threat, whether made in jest or in anger, are taken seriously. They disrupt our schools, frighten our community, and put students, staff, and parents on edge. APD is committed to ensuring that those who make such threats are held accountable, no matter the platform used.

Ashland Family,

 This morning, I posted a letter to parents and staff outlining the training and security measures that our District has in place to ensure the safety of our students and staff members.  Since then, we have learned of a posting on social media identifying certain Blazers students by name.  The parents of those students have been notified, and Ashland Police Department is actively and diligently investigating the posting.  Based on discussions with Ashland Police Department, we have no reason to believe that there is a credible threat to the safety of our schools, and we continue to take necessary steps, as outlined in my previous letter, to ensure safety of staff and students. We will continue to make information available as we receive it from the APD.  We of course will not hold classes if there is information suggesting a credible threat to students or staff.

Dear Ashland Families,

 Given the recent unfortunate events that have occurred in our school/community/nation, I know that you are very understandably concerned when you send your precious children to school each morning. We live in a society with a 24/7 news cycle and social media outlets that allow users to instantly share misinformation that can sometimes exacerbate stories regarding our schools. Regardless, there is a lot that keeps you on edge about the safety of your loved one(s) while at school and I would like to address your concerns. What we can do is assure you that we are continually taking steps, and have been for years, to increase the security of all aspects of our campuses. Your children and our staff mean everything to us. Therefore, there is no length to which we will not go to protect this school environment from danger.

The following is from the Ashland Police Department as it relates to our schools:

APD has received a series of calls and messages concerning the threats to local schools including Ashland schools.  Officers and detectives have been following up on each call and coordinating with nearby law enforcement agencies.  With our partnership with the Ashland School System, we have a School Resource Officer in each school.  In addition, we have doubled the patrols in and around the schools as well while our officers and detectives continue to take calls and follow up on any leads. The Kentucky Fusion Center notified us yesterday of a known series of threats mentioning schools. Our area soon started to see posts on Snapchat and various other social media.  Students and parents began notifying us, and our teams follow up on each call overnight. 

To date, no credible threat has been found.