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The Case for Tougher Penalties for School Shooting Threats

Amy Suman, associate superintendent of the Pojoaque Valley School District, speaks at the DOJ announcement, on October 30, 2024, of new legislation to toughen penalties for threatening mass shootings at schools.
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New Mexico Dept. of Justice
Amy Suman, associate superintendent of the Pojoaque Valley School District, speaks at the DOJ announcement, on October 30, 2024, of new legislation to toughen penalties for threatening mass shootings at schools.

Several schools in New Mexico were forced to deal with a threat of a mass shooting last month, including ones in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos, Rio Rancho, Raton, and several other towns.

That’s according to the state Department of Justice, which yesterday announced proposed legislation that would increase penalties for those who threaten mass shootings.

It would elevate the existing offense from a misdemeanor to a fourth-degree felony.

Attorney general Raúl Torrez was joined by several law enforcement and school officials for the announcement, held at Cleveland High School, in Rio Rancho.

Torrez said that upgrading shooting threats to a felony will enable officers to obtain search warrants and other investigation resources that should ultimately decrease the occurrence.

Rio Rancho Police Chief Stewart Steele said that labeling such crimes as misdemeanors makes it harder to keep schools safe.

“ It causes chaos in the community. It causes chaos within the schools and chaos for our educators," said Steele. 

"We need to do something, to put some teeth into this, because quite frankly, right now, I feel like it's, almost a catch and release. I hate to use that term, but that's what it is. There's no consequences, as I see it.”

Torrez and other officials at the event talked about prior legislative efforts to increase penalties for threatened mass shootings, and the importance of getting it through this time. 

State representative from District 29, Joy Garratt, will sponsor the bill at the legislative session that begins in January. She hopes to bring it forward as a bipartisan measure.

The challenge of dealing with mass shooting threats in rural and tribal communities presents additional challenges due to limited resources, slower emergency response times, and the tens of thousands of dollars each threat costs school districts, said Amy Suman, associate superintendent of the Pojoaque Valley School District.

“Our children have a destroyed sense of safety. When your kids don't feel safe, they can't learn. It assassinates the soul of a community." said Suman.

"When you're too scared to send your kids to school, and if you are a community member who is a laborer, and you have to go clean houses, and your husband has to be a custodian. and you don't wanna send your kid to school, how are you going to make your bottom line?“

Suman said dealing with these issues is long overdue, adding that New Mexico ranks 46th in the nation in population density but 4th in gun violence.

Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina said that his department responded to 28 school shooting threats during the month of September.

Attorney general Torrez, whose mother taught in the Albuquerque schools, underscored the fact, however, that school threats are not just an Albuquerque problem but affect schools in “every corner of the state.”

Rob Hochschild first reported news for WCIB (Falmouth, MA) and WKVA (Lewistown, PA). He later worked for three public radio stations in Boston before joining KSFR as news reporter.