Nashua Police Look Into Elm Street School Threats

NASHUA, N.H. - Police and school officials are collaborating after a spate of unsubstantiated online threats made at the Elm Street School in Nashua. According to a letter from Elm Street Principal Ian Atwell, police investigated three separate incidents involving students and alleged threats at the middle school and online on May 25, 28 and 31.

In his letter to the Nashua community, Atwell said he has been holding informational sessions with parents this past week with the intention to keep the lines of communication open.

"We have developed a message for students that will be communicated through team meeting assemblies to be held this week. Our message will focus on appropriate topics for general discussion and that certain topics or phrases are not appropriate because they may make other students uncomfortable outside of teacher led classroom discussions or activities," he wrote.

On May 25, Atwell said, several students overhear a student repeating a disturbing lyric to a song from a social studies class. According to Atwell, a teacher played a Black Death parody song (set to the tune of “Hollaback Girl” by Gwen Stefani) in class and another student overheard it.

After contacting police, as part of protocol with any potential threat, Atwell said no credible threat was found regarding this situation.

Two other situations - one on May 28, which involved a threat on Snapchat between two students and one on May 31, in which a student posted about an unfounded rumor on social media that went viral - were both investigated by police who did not find any credible threat.

Atwell said students will also be educated on the proper steps to take if they need to report a concern.

"We will remind them to please say something directly to a trusted adult, rather than creating a post on social media that can go viral and create unintended concerns," he wrote.

Courtesy Photo / Nashua PD