Photo Credit: KARE11 / Elk River School
(MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.) – A potential bomb threat on September 15 led the Elk River Police to evacuate the school pending a protective sweep by the department and K9 officers. The students, faculty, and other staff were dismissed before 11 a.m., and all after-school activities were cancelled for the day.
School officials later announced on social media that the school was evacuated out of caution to ensure everyone's safety. Elk River High School Principal Mike Zeman elaborated later in the afternoon, saying in part, “The safety of our students, staff, and community is our highest priority, and that responsibility is shared hand-in-hand with our local law enforcement partners.”
Zeman also praised the Elk River Police Department’s quick response, “Their close partnership allowed us to act decisively, maintain order during the evacuation, and bring swift resolution to this situation.” Elk River reopened the next day, but it’s far from the first threat on a Minnesota school this year.
This past March, officers were called to a domestic-related incident in Dayton Bluff, a St. Paul neighborhood. According to the South St. Paul Police Department, Tre’Quan Delon Prewit (28) said he was going to "shoot up" South St. Paul Secondary, where the complainant's son goes to school. The complainant had an active restraining order against Prewit, but allowed him to visit. He also made several other threats, including harm to her unborn child.
Photo Credit: Facebook / Elk River Police Department
This year has seen 33 threats to Minnesota schools, but no shootings or threats carried out as of this publication. Overall school shooting incidents in the U.S. have reached 2,980 so far in 2026. Steps to improve Minnesota school threat reporting systems were already in place when both threats were made.
A new Minnesota law went into effect July 1, requiring schools to establish anonymous reporting systems for potential threats and harmful activity. The new law states schools must adopt a policy for said system by June 30 of next year, and must have a full system in place by July 1, 2028. Schools without their own system must make information about the statewide reporting system provided by the Department of Public Safety available to their communities.
All new systems must have a 24/7 mobile app, website, or toll-free hotline to report threats to school property, students, employees, and any dangerous, violent, threatening, or harmful activity. Minnesota will provide an estimated $4 million in grants and $10 million in compensatory education revenue in 2027 alone to help develop, build, and maintain reporting systems.
To add to or correct any information in this report, please contact me at kristin.h@lead4earth.org.
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