Arrest Made in Connection with HPHS Threat
Police made an arrest on Nov. 22 in connection with an online threat to Highland Park High School, HPISD chief of police Mark Rowden wrote in an email message to families.
He continued that the district was legally limited in the information it could disclose because the incident involved a student.
Additional security measures were in place on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 due to a circulating social media post displaying a threat written on a bathroom stall, according to emails from school officials.
In his safety message, Rowden asked parents to encourage students to be mindful about what they put online. “These are serious actions and appropriate disciplinary, and potentially criminal, consequences will always be applied,” he wrote.
Here is a startling fact that most people don’t know (me included until today). The Texas Penal Code’s definition of “premises” as it relates to the unlawful possession of a gun at a school specifically excludes all parking lots and parking “areas.” I’m no expert and do not know the HPISD city ordinances, but unless I am mistaken, a student of adult age could legally possess a gun in their car and park at the school. I find this terrifying. Any lawyers or law enforcement here familiar with this???