Thursday morning media descended on Hazen High School after school officials and the Renton Police Department investigated a possible threat situation yesterday.

On Wednesday, a student at the school reported that she heard an unidentified student in the hallway make a passing remark about bringing a gun to school on Thursday. The student told her parents about it and they contacted school staff on Wednesday morning. Hazen staff interviewed the student that heard the rumor and about four other students. Most of the students interviewed did not have first-hand knowledge of the threat, but read about it on Facebook.

Neither school staff or the Renton Police School Resource Officers were able to substantiate the possible threat.

An email was sent to Hazen parents, as a precaution, Wednesday about the possible threat, how it was investigated and that it wasn’t credible, said Randy Matheson, district spokesperson.

“We wanted to make sure parents knew we knew about,” Matheson said.

The incident became heightened, he said, when the rumor spread to social media and someone contacted TV stations.Thursday morning a couple of TV crews came to the school looking for answers, as well as, concerned parents, said Matheson.

“Given what happened in Connecticut, you can understand why parents would be very concerned,” he said.

Typically school officials have a listserv they use to contact parents with sensitive information before they hear about it in the media, Matheson said.

“We actually had a lot of students at Hazen not come to school today,” he said.

However, Matheson wasn’t sure how many absences were due to kids skipping because of the possible threat or because it is the last day before winter break. Parents are encouraged to send a note to school with their student when they return after break explaining their student’s absence. If students did not attend Hazen because of the rumored threat, that absence would still be excused, Matheson said.

The take away message, according to him, is that parents need to reinforce to their children the importance of reporting rumors like this to adults or school officials. Matheson stressed that it is district policy to fully investigate such claims.

School and district security officers were expected to be visible and vigilant all day Thursday as well as before and after school.

Hazen Principal John Kniseley sent an update to parents this morning about the situation and media on campus.

“Hazen High is a safe school,” Kniseley wrote in the email to parents. “Your students are safe at school. We have school and district security, and a commissioned Renton Police officer assigned as a School Resource Office to keep our school safe. Our staff are always vigilant, and are quick to report any rumor they hear to ensure we look into any perceived threat.”

Kniseley also detailed what led up to the media attention and wished families well this holiday season.