Police officers have been stationed at an Adelaide suburban high school that was the subject of a shooting threat that has circulated on social media, but authorities say they do not have “immediate concerns”.
Key points:
- Police are currently investigating the social media post in which the threat was made
- They have stationed patrols at the school as a precaution
- Education Minister Blair Boyer said that the matter was being taken ‘incredibly seriously’
A video shared on Snapchat that appears to target Playford International College at Elizabeth was captioned with the words “shooting Playford up” accompanied by the image of what appears to be a firearm.
Education authorities were notified of the post yesterday, and police have said while they do not have “immediate concerns” about student and staff safety, they have taken the precaution of sending patrols to the school this morning.
“I don’t think they have necessarily been able to ascertain who made the threat but the advice, pleasingly, is that they don’t think there’s any imminent threat to staff [and] students there,” Education Minister Blair Boyer said.
Mr Boyer said he was notified of the video about 9:45pm on Sunday, and said it was “obviously really concerning”.
“School is happening there today, but there are security guards already on site at that school, they were in place before this, and there’s going to be a SAPOL presence at the school today as well, and we’ll be monitoring that very carefully,” he said.
“We take those kind of threats, whether they’re a hoax or not, incredibly seriously and there’s no room for error.”
Police have confirmed the matter is currently being investigated.
“Detectives from Northern District CIB are investigating who created the post, and it is likely that action will be taken,” a police spokesperson said.
“Police do not have immediate concerns about the safety of anyone attending Playford International College.
“Patrols will be in attendance at the college this morning.”
TikTok fuelling school fight club trend
The matter coincides with renewed concerns over videos of so-called school “fight clubs” that are also circulating on social media.
Mr Boyer said that 18 students at Underdale High School, in Adelaide’s west, had been suspended over such material, which he described as “uncharted waters in some respects”.
“The footage that we’ve seen of these fight clubs is being driven by an international TikTok trend. It’s not even necessarily the case [which] we have seen in previous examples of violence where one student is being bullied by another student and assaulted,” he said.
“It appears to be a case where students are agreeing to basically have a boxing match on school premises which is watched and filmed by other students.”
Police are also investigating an overnight break-in at Golden Grove primary school, where police were called just before 2am.
Those responsible smashed windows and entered the school gym, from which they took fire extinguishers which were then let off in a kitchen.
Police have asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.