‘KGNS On Your Side’ investigates the number of threats made towards Laredo public schools after the Uvalde tragedy

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) - On May 24, 2022, 19 students and two teachers were killed during a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Since that time, KGNS has reported on more than a dozen school threats made primarily towards public schools in Laredo.

The ‘KGNS On Your Side’ team wanted to dig deeper into the number of threats Laredo public school districts have seen since the tragedy in Uvalde, so the team submitted a public information request to United ISD and Laredo ISD asking for threat data between May 2022 to May 2023.

Only UISD fulfilled the public information request and provided KGNS with a list of all of its police records associated with reported threats.

According to the district, a total of 76 threats were fielded by the UISD Police Department within that time frame.

That amount is much more than the 12 cases KGNS has reported on.

UISD PD spokesperson Sylvia Abrego said that the numbers provided to KGNS likely reflect the threat assessments and terroristic threats the department has investigated, with threat assessments making up the majority of the caseload.

“We have a lot of social media,” Abrego said when describing the threat assessments.

“[Students] do post insignificant things. However, if it causes any type of panic or alarm to another student, a parent, or administration – we do go investigate and make sure that the threat is not credible, and do that threat assessment, so that has been the highest, the threat assessments,” she added.

Abrego described a terroristic threat as a charge made to someone who makes a threat to a person or school.

One of the recent cases that stood out to Abrego was that of Brandon Ray Speed.

“That was more because he was idolizing, more, the Uvalde incident. I believe he traveled several times to Uvalde, [and] recorded himself, but right now he is under federal custody, so that’s not one of our concerns at the moment,” Abrego said.

Abrego said that every threat made towards a school is taken very seriously, and she encouraged people to speak out if they see something suspicious.

19-year-old Speed was federally charged for allegedly making a public threat to an unnamed school in Laredo back in December.

Local law enforcement and the FBI got involved in the case.

Jury selection for Speed’s case is anticipated for this summer.

Laredo ISD received a similar request from the ‘KGNS On Your Side’ team. However, the district’s attorneys have asked the Texas Attorney General’s Office for an opinion on the release of the information.

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