Last Tuesday, Apple Valley, Eagan, Eastview and Rosemount high schools and all 13 schools in ISD 191 in Burnsville were closed due to receiving “multiple concerning messages posted online that referenced possible harm directed at several high schools within Independent School District 196,” according to a press release from ISD 196.
Police identified the sender of those threats as a 16-year-old student who was charged with four counts of threats to violence. The teen was arrested and taken to the Juvenile Services Center in Hastings after confirming the phone number and social media accounts associated with the threats were his.
“Any threat of gun violence, especially when directed at schools, is taken very seriously to my office. I want to thank the student who reported the threats to the school resource officer. Your actions played an important role in protecting the safety of other students and staff while the police investigated the threat,” said Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena in a press release on the arrest.
Schools resumed across the districts the next day on Dec. 17.
The response to potential school emergencies differs district to district, but cooperation between law enforcement and school administration is common. For Apple Valley, officers were notified about the threatening posts the evening of Dec. 15 before the cancellation of schools the next day.
Law enforcement also highlighted the role of parents in a joint statement released about the event: “Parents and guardians also play a vital role in keeping our schools and community safe. Monitoring online activity and having direct conversations with children about the seriousness and consequences of making threats can help prevent harm and address concerning behavior before it escalates.”

Emergency protocols in Hastings
In Hastings, ISD 200 adopted the I Love U Guys standard response protocol (SRP) in 2024. The SRP provides protocols for several events from large-scale emergencies to regular occurrences like spills and bloody noses.
The I Love U Guys SRP, which can be found on staff lanyards and posters across the district, lays out a series of different protocols to respond to different events which can range from closing a hallway because of vomit or blood to how to move students and staff off school property and then reunify them with parents and guardians. The different types of protocols are hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate, and shelter.
Many of these events, like holds that keep students out of hallways due to hygiene or health concerns, are considered part of normal business and are therefore not communicated to parents.
The SRP was named after the final text sent from Emily Keyes, who was killed in the 2006 Platte Canyon High School shooting in Colorado. The program’s goal is “restore and protect the joy of youth through educational programs and positive actions in collaboration with families, schools, communities, organizations and government entities,” according to the I Love U Guys Foundation website.

HPD and ISD 200
Starting next year, ISD 200 will have a second school resource officer, with Officer James Domaier joining at the beginning of the second semester.
School Resource Officers often act as the intermediary between the district and the schools “because they work with administration on a daily basis,” said Hastings Police Chief Dave Wilske.
While the district and police department’s response would change depending on how a potential threat was reported, HPD provides consultation with the district in assessing “how credible the threat is,” said Wilske.
“We always consider it a real threat,” said Wilske, but much of the initial work is identifying the sender of a potential threat in order to determine its veracity.
Wilske was reticent to go into detail in how law enforcement works to identify the senders of such threats. In addition, coverage of such threats, especially that which focuses on the perpetrator, has a possibility of leading to “copycats,” said Wilske.
“The public needs to know we work closely with the district and administration,” said Wilske. “It’s a good working relationship.”