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Written by Yuma News Now Yuma News Now
Published: 27 February 2018 27 February 2018

Yuma, Arizona - On Monday, February 26, 2018 at approximately 8:10 p.m., the Yuma Police Department started receiving calls reference to a possible school shooting that may happen on Tuesday, February 27th at Gila Ridge High School, located at 7150 E 24th Street.

At this time the Yuma Police Department is actively investigating this threat and is working closely with Yuma Union High School District to determine the source and validity of the threat.

Gila Ridge High School has canceled all classes and events on campus for Tuesday, February 27th.

The Police Department started receiving numerous calls and Facebook instant messages last night around 8:10 p.m.   The messages related to concern about a possible shooting to take place at Gila Ridge High School.

School Resource Officers and other YPD employees were called in and took over monitoring social media to help identify names and addresses of persons/students posting the messages.  After contacting several parents and students, it was determined the original post was actually a non-threating message on a social media network called Snap chat.  After learning the identity of the student who made this post, the student was contacted at his residence and interviewed at the Yuma Police Department.  Other students believed to have information were also contacted and interviewed.  

The Investigation has revealed that after viewing and misinterpreting the original post on Snapchat, several social media participants made a number of secondary posts with inaccurate or false information.  The nature of social media led to additional unfiltered and widespread distribution of misinformation throughout the Yuma community.  The department is working to identify the persons making and spreading these inaccurate/false posts.

The Yuma Police Department has been working closely with Yuma Union High School District, Yuma Elementary School District and Crane School District staff throughout this investigation.  We have received countless calls from our community related to this matter, and have fully investigated all information as it comes in.

In response to social media posts about weapons or ammunition on the Gila Ridge High campus, the Yuma Police Department Special Enforcement Team and law enforcement partners conducted a search of the school grounds last night.  Contrary to some social media posts, no weapons or ammunition were located.

We would like to re-state that at this time, we have been unable to find any information to support the circumstance of threats made by any student(s) towards other students or persons.  At this time, no one has been arrested or charged regarding this incident.

This case is still an active investigation.

The Yuma Police Department is continuing to verify all information coming in.

The Yuma Police Department encourages anyone with any information about this case to please call the Yuma Police Department at 928-373-4700 or 78-Crime at (928) 782-7463 to remain anonymous.