SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The Alum Rock Union School District community found itself bracing for the worst Wednesday after an apparent threat to "shoot up" its campuses surfaced on Twitter.
"You guys look so innocent and say you have a no bully zone but you literally make me want to shoot up your (expletive) schools," the post stated in part.
Superintendent Hilaria Bauer acknowledged the troubling tweet in a letter to parents and guardians Wednesday.
"Within the last 24 hours, we have received what we have deemed to be (a) threat against the Alum Rock Union School District," she said. "Although we cannot confirm the credibility of the threat, we are treating it as serious and have contacted the San Jose Police Department."
A spokesperson for the police department could not be immediately reached for comment.
Monica Gomez, whose three children attend Adelante Academy, said a district official left a voice mail for her explaining the situation.
"My kids were asking, 'Oh no, what does this mean? Are we going to die? What if there is a shooter? What are we supposed to do?' And I don't know if my kids really know what to do. I don't think there has been enough active shooter training with the kids," said Gomez, 45.
"I tell my kids, 'You run for your lives. You run in a zigzag,'" she continued. "But I can't tell them that if they're in a classroom. It's scary. I think everyone is on heightened alert right now and my children are always looking over their shoulder. It just worries me."
Aileen Martinez's niece is a sixth-grader in the school district. For her, the voice mail she received immediately called to mind the recent school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead.
"I watched all the videos of the parents talking about their children that had passed," said Martinez, 20. "I would never want my niece to be gone just for going to school. I send my niece to school eight hours a day to get an education and to learn, not to fight for her life."
In her letter, Bauer said the district has filed a complaint with Twitter "requesting they take appropriate steps to investigate the statement made on their platform." An earlier tweet made from the same account expressed a wish to see a school shooting top 100 victims.
Bauer insisted students are safe at district schools.
"I want to be very clear in stating that your children are safe, as we have activated the appropriate protocols for this type of threat," she said.
Gomez said she had no choice but to believe Bauer.
"I have to believe they're safe and I'm telling them they're going to be safe," she said about her children. "But we need to be prepared and that's what I'm trying to teach my children."
Martinez said her family is not convinced and will not be sending her niece to school Thursday.
"I understand that the school district is saying that it safe for our children," she said, "but as an aunt and also as a parent, you don't want to take that risk for a child, especially that young."
