Two Lafayette High School Students Arrested in Connection to Online Threats That Led to Multiple Lockdowns

Lafayette Police have made arrests in connection with the online threats that put Lafayette High School on lockdown twice this week.

According to Sr. Cpl. Matthew Benoit with the Lafayette Police Department, two juvenile students from Lafayette High were arrested and accused of Terrorizing.

Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division began aggressively deploying resources to locate where the threats came from, along with identifying the individuals who were responsible for creating this panic in our community. Throughout the investigation detectives were able to determine the source of the social media threats. Two juvenile students at Lafayette High School were arrested. One juvenile was charged with 2 counts of Terrorizing, the second juvenile was charged with 1 count of Terrorizing. Both juveniles were booked into the Lafayette Juvenile Detention Center.

Benoit said that Lafayette PD takes every threat toward students and schools seriously, adding that these threats lead to lockdowns and investigations that rob students and faculty of their valuable time, not to mention the unnecessary stress and panic that everyone involved may endure over these types of incidents.

The Lafayette Police Department take all threats of violence towards students and schools seriously. Situations like this cause panic and stress, and takes away valuable time from all students in this area. We will investigate all threats to the fullest extent and continue to protect all students in the Lafayette Parish School System. Thank you to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Parish School System, and the Lafayette City Marshal’s Office for the continue assistance in these situations.

The first incident related to online threats began on Monday, October 3 when Lafayette High School administration was made aware of two social media posts that named students and staff members.

A third online threat was made early Thursday morning (Oct. 6) prompting the Lafayette Police Department as well as deputies with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office to begin lockdown protocols and begin their investigation on the LHS campus.

We will update this story as more information becomes available.