Rumor Of Shooting Threat Sparks Panic At West Islip High

WEST ISLIP, NY — An unfounded social media report of a threatened shooting at West Islip High School caused panic Friday morning, with some students making terrified calls to their parents and others leaving the school premises.

Suffolk County police and West Islip School District confirmed the scare, caused by a Snapchat post, was unfounded.

Vincent Alongi told Patch that his frightened 15-year-old daughter called him before 9 a.m. from a hallway and sent him a screenshot from Snapchat reading "Everyone in West Islip High School please go home. There was a shooting threat, just go home."

The source of the Snapchat is unknown, but Alongi said it alarmed enough students that "a lot got checked out of school by their parents."

Police said the scare was due to confusion over a threat made on Snapchat a day earlier that was aimed at nearby West Babylon High School and led to remote learning at that school Friday.

A spokesperson for the Suffolk County Police Department told Patch "People saw the West Babylon threat and thought it had to do with West Islip. There was no threat at West Islip."

Alongi says the school district handled the incident well.

"The school did a good job of sticking to their emergency plans. The police were brought in and there was communication to the parents."

The district sent a message to parents around 9 a.m., reading in part:

"Social media has exploded with incorrect information that has made people anxious and resulted in some parents signing their students out of school. As of this time, we have determined that there is no threat related to the West Islip School District. In an abundance of caution, the police were contacted and are on site at the high school."

There were also reported threats this week in Smithtown and Medford.

In an update sent to parents from West Islip administrators, the school urged parents to closely monitor their children's social media use in the coming days and to report anything of concern.