CM Russell High School Incident

This morning, September 13, 2024, Great Falls Public Schools (GFPS) and the Great Falls Police Department (GFPD) received concerning information about possible threats to schools within the District. It was quickly determined the threats were actually old and unclear threats such as those we have seen before where a social media post is made to create alarm and shared throughout the Country. There was briefly some additional law enforcement presence near our schools, but no impact or interruption to our students. In this specific case, a GFPS student became aware of the post and immediately notified school staff who then of course notified our GFPD School Resource Officers (SRO). Together, they were able to make a clear determination the concerns were not directed at any of our local schools. However, there were two events that did take place at CMR High School this morning which did create a GFPD response. Shortly after clearing the initial threat concerns, GFPD SRO’s and Patrol Officers responded to CMR High School to assist in a completely un-related medical event. While handling the medical event GFPD SRO’s, Patrol Officers, and GFPS Staff were also dealing with an un-related assault, which took place within CMR. An arrest has been made in the assault investigation. While dealing with the two physical events at CMR students were placed in a “Class Hold” so GFPS staff and GFPD staff could clear the two un-related events. We are very thankful for our relationship with the GFPS and want the public to know we are very proud of our local students who in this case, did exactly what was needed. The student saw something of concern and immediately reported it to school staff. GFPD and GFPS continue to take threats to our schools and our students seriously. Parents and guardians, please continue to talk with your students about communicating any threatening behavior to a responsible adult.