Modesto police say social media rumors of violence at Enochs High not credible

Modesto Police late Wednesday night quashed rumors on social media that there would be violence at Enochs High School on Thursday.

On the Modesto Police Department Facebook page just after 10 p.m., it posted: “Officers have followed up on leads regarding a threat at Enochs High School and have determined it not to be a credible threat. We will have extra officers in the area and on campus throughout the day.”

However, there was no specific information on how officers determined it lacked credibility or where and in what form it originated.

On the Enochs High Facebook page, a message went out stating: “A big thank you to our police department, the MPD have completed their investigation and the rumors were determined to be false. If you have any new information please do not hesitate to notify the school 550-3401. We are grateful to the staff, students and parents of EHS and the community for speaking out. See you at school tomorrow!”

However, some people commenting on the post expressed skepticism, adding that they would be keeping their children out of school nonetheless.

For the previous few hours Wednesday night, there were several references on Twitter from students discussing the alleged threat, referring to somebody “shooting up” Enochs.

Police received several calls Wednesday evening about it, according to Heather Graves, spokesperson for the Modesto Police Department.

Enochs High School’s official Twitter feed – @EnochsUpdate – posted this message around 9 p.m.: “Thank you for all the tips regarding the twitter rumors, the police have been notified and we will update you as we have new information.”

Becky Fortuna, spokesperson for Modesto City Schools, said that the district had been working with police throughout the evening.

Fortuna said she did not know the specific nature of the threat or if any students were being investigated.

She said earlier in the evening that, based on the information they receive from police, the district was prepared to give parents direction as to what to do in the morning via its automated messenger service – via phone call, email and text message.

Any announcement also would be made on the district’s Twitter and Facebook pages. The district did acknowledge the threat on its Facebook page Wednesday evening.

In March 2013, there was a threat at Modesto High regarding a note about a possible shooting spree that police investigated and found to be bogus. Some parents did pull their children out of school.

We’ll have more on this story as information becomes available.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Modesto police say social media rumors of violence at Enochs High not credible."