ESCANABA — A second threat of violence within a week by a second student at Escanaba junior/high school is being investigated by school and local law enforcement, according to Superintendent Coby Fletcher.

A verbal threat of a school shooting was allegedly made to students at the junior/senior high school on Tuesday, resulting in the removal of a 14-year-old male suspect from the school. Other students had alerted school officials about the threat.

Fletcher said the student who allegedly made the shooting threat is currently on a 10-day suspension while the school board considers what action to take.

This is the second threat made by a student at the school within a week. A 16-year-old male student threatened to commit a school shooting on March 14. He has since been expelled from the district, which immediately stepped up security at all school buildings following the incident.

“The law enforcement, the legal system and the school are really taking all these threats with a great degree of seriousness,” Fletcher commented this morning.

Parents of junior high and senior high school students were informed about the second threat in a letter from the school district, which also

advised parents to discuss the consequences of such threats with their children.

The letter also encouraged parents to remind their children about “the importance of reporting any suspicious or potentially threatening activity to an adult as soon as possible,” also noting the safety of students and staff is the district’s primary concern.

Both students have been charged with criminal felonies by the county prosecutor and are being processed through the Delta County Probate Court, which serves as the family division court of circuit court.

The 16-year-old has been charged with two felony counts: threat or false report of terrorism, a 20-year felony; and threat or false report of terrorism involving a bomb or harmful device, a 10-year felony.

Following this student’s arrest last week, he was lodged in Bay Pines Juvenile Correctional Facility in Escanaba and has since been released under house arrest with a tether. He is scheduled to appear in probate court on April 2 for a pretrial conference hearing when he may make a plea or set a trial date.

The 14-year old male who is alleged to have made a verbal threat to students this week is charged with one count of threat or false report of terrorism. He is currently lodged at Bay Pines and is scheduled to appear in probate court Monday when he may make a plea or set a trial date.

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Jenny Lancour, (906) 786-2021, ext. 143, jlancour@dailypress.net