The FBI is investigating four threats against Houston-area schools and says four juveniles have been arrested in connection with three of those cases.
The FBI's Houston Field Office is investigating four credible threats made against area schools since the start of the school year. Four juveniles have been arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat in connection with three of those cases: three arrests tied to threats against Pasadena ISD's Memorial High School and Sam Rayburn High School, and one arrest tied to a threat against Huntsville High School. The FBI has not released details about the fourth threat, and no one has been arrested or charged in that case.
The FBI's Houston Field Office is investigating four credible threats made against schools in the Houston area since classes resumed for the new school year, and agents say four juveniles have already been arrested and charged in three of those cases.
Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson said three of the arrests are connected to threats against Pasadena ISD schools, specifically Memorial High School and Sam Rayburn High School. The fourth arrest is tied to a threat made against Huntsville High School. All four juveniles face charges of making a terroristic threat, Hudson said.
Pasadena ISD confirmed in a statement that Memorial High School and Sam Rayburn High School were the two campuses named in the threats against the district. The district did not release additional details about the nature of the threats or the students involved, citing the ongoing investigation and the ages of those arrested.
The FBI has not released details about the fourth threat under investigation. No one has been arrested or charged in that case, and Hudson said the bureau is not able to share information on it at this time.
Hudson said the timing lines up with a pattern the FBI sees every year. "We always see an uptick in threats of mass violence targeting schools at the beginning of the school year," he said. He did not specify how the four threats were communicated or discovered, but said each was assessed as credible enough to warrant a federal response alongside local law enforcement.
The FBI Houston Field Office covers a wide area of southeast Texas, and Hudson said the bureau works with school districts, local police departments and sheriff's offices whenever a threat surfaces. Pasadena ISD, based southeast of downtown Houston, serves tens of thousands of students across dozens of campuses. Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston in Walker County, is home to Sam Houston State University and Huntsville High School, which is part of Huntsville Independent School District.
Hudson said the bureau treats every threat the same way regardless of whether investigators later determine the person making it intended to follow through. "This is not a laughing matter," he said. "We do not find this funny, and you will still be held responsible for your actions even if you don't have malicious intent."
Texas law does not require prosecutors to prove a person meant to carry out a threat in order to charge them with making a terroristic threat. The statute covers threats made with intent to cause fear, disrupt a school or public place, or prompt an emergency response, regardless of whether the person had the means or a plan to act on it. Students in past years have faced charges even when investigators concluded a threat was posted as a joke or a dare.
Neither the FBI nor Pasadena ISD detailed what happened to the students after their arrests, including whether they remain in juvenile detention or have been released to their families pending further proceedings. Juvenile court records in Texas are generally sealed, and neither the bureau nor the district identified the students by name, which is standard practice in cases involving minors.
Hudson said his office sees more threats reported in the opening weeks of a school year and said some of those cases involve students repeating threats they saw shared online from other districts. He did not say whether he believes the four Houston-area cases are connected to one another.
Hudson said the FBI's message to parents, students and school staff has not changed: report any threat, no matter how vague, and let agents and local police determine whether it is credible. He said people should not decide on their own that a threat is not serious.
No court dates have been announced for the three cases where arrests have been made. The FBI said it will continue working with Pasadena ISD, Huntsville ISD and other district and municipal police departments as it investigates the fourth threat. The bureau has not said when it expects to release further details or make an arrest in that case.
