Texas schools investigate threats, images with guns; at least 2 students arrested

In the two days since an 18-year-old man opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, killing 19 students and two teachers, law enforcement authorities across Texas are dealing with threats and arresting some students.

School districts in South, Central and North Texas and the Rio Grande Valley said they have intercepted guns and credible threats against schools.

At least four people have been arrested, including two students, as of Thursday afternoon. Here’s what we know so far:

19-year-old student arrested in Seguin

The Seguin Independent School District said Joel Plascencia, 19, was arrested late Wednesday after he made a terroristic threat about bringing a weapon to campus.

He threatened several times that he was going to bring his AK-47 to the high school, police said.

“Seguin High School staff made it clear several times to Plascencia that the comments were not humorous, and that they needed to cease; however, their warnings did not stop Plascencia from continuing to make threats about bringing a firearm to the school,” the release states.

He also admitted to administrators that he made those comments.

Plascencia was charged with one count of terroristic threat.

Police officers encourage citizens to report any suspicious activity, alarming social media postings, or concerning comments at 830-379-2123.

4 detained in Central Texas after posts emerge

Four people were arrested in Manor, located in Travis ISD, after images containing threats were posted online, according to Manor Police Chief Ryan Phipps.

Authorities became aware of the first threat toward Manor ISD on Wednesday night, Phipps said in a news conference on Thursday.

The image included a male posing with what appeared to be a hunting rifle and “foul language” in the background, Phipps said. The post included text that read Thursday’s date.

On Thursday morning, they discovered a second social media post that included an image of a woman posing with a rifle. The image also had “foul language” and had Thursday’s date, Phipps said.

That post said “Manor got some coming,” according to the district.

So far, four people were detained, and two were considered suspects. At this time, their names, ages and charges are unclear.

Student arrested in North Texas

Police in Richardson, north of Dallas, said a male student was seen walking with what appeared to be a rifle toward Berkner High School on Wednesday morning.

Officers were dispatched to the school and located the suspect inside the campus, police said.

While he didn’t have a weapon on him at the time, he did have an AK-47 style pistol and a replica AR-15 style Orbeez rifle in his vehicle, police said.

The school was placed on lockdown and no one was injured, according to the Dallas Morning News. The school was taken out of lockdown before noon.

He was arrested and charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon in a weapon-free school zone, police said. The police did not say his name or age, but the Dallas Morning News reported that he is a minor.

AK-47 tied to school threat in RGV

Overnight, the Donna Independent School District said authorities received “a credible threat of violence.”

A source told MyRGV.com that law enforcement officers found an AK-47 and a list of targeted students at a home. Two to three people had planned on shooting up a school, the source told the news outlet.

Details about the suspects or targeted school were not released.

Since the threat, the district canceled classes for the remainder of the week out of an abundance of caution. Donna is located near McAllen and Pharr.

The incidents happened as Texans are still reeling from the massacre in Uvalde.

Texas authorities said the gunman recently purchased two rifles and ammunition following his 18th birthday, and used one of them to shoot up the school.

He shot his grandmother before he made his way inside the campus, where he charged into one classroom and began to kill. He “barricaded himself by locking the door and just started shooting children and teachers that were inside that classroom,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Department of Public Safety told CNN.

All those killed were in the same fourth-grade classroom, he said.

Read more:

• Remembering the victims of the Uvalde elementary school shooting
• Parents, onlookers urged police to charge into Uvalde elementary school
• Uvalde school shooting: What we know about the Robb Elementary shooting that killed 19 children, 2 teachers
• Uvalde massacre is among the 200+ mass shootings recorded in the US so far this year
• Uvalde shooter: Bought 2 AR-style rifles week before shooting; Classmates say he had ‘immediate’ red flags