Karen Orcutt got the good news as she sat down with Orono school leaders and police on a recent morning — a possible school threat the night before was a false alarm.
But minutes later, relief quickly gave way to panic.
"Orono is not safe. Today at 12:00pm I will shoot up the school myself," another threat posted on social media read.
In her 14 years leading the small suburban school district, the superintendent had never seen a school shooting threat. Now, she was facing two, just hours apart. Immediately, she put all five schools in a lockdown for the first time ever.
"You have to make quick decisions," she said. "I don't know there's any way to overreact when you're threatened."
In the wake of the Parkland, Fla., high school shooting that killed 17 kids and staff, Minnesota schools are confronting an unusually high surge in threats — many for the first time — putting communities from Minneapolis to Mankato and beyond on edge. In four weeks, Minnesota schools have reported at least 19 threats, spurring lockdowns, school closures and arrests of students. Even more schools reported rumored threats and hoaxes that were later ruled not credible.
Nationwide, an average of 70 threats and incidents have been reported each day since Parkland — up from the usual 10 threats and incidents, according to Educator's School Safety Network. Former principal and teacher Amy Klinger founded the Ohio nonprofit and has tracked news reports since 2014. She said she expected a surge in threats after the Florida shooting, but not this many and for so long afterward.
"The uptick is way more than you think and it's lasted," Klinger said.