Police investigating shooting threats targeting several Amsterdam secondary schools

The police are investigating social media posts threatening shootings at several secondary schools in Amsterdam, mainly in the West and Nieuw-West districts, on Wednesday. The schools are open and the police are taking “visible and invisible measures,” AT5 reported.

Two posts circulating on Snapchat and other social media platforms include texts like “shootings tomorrow in schools West” and “everyone is going to die.” The posts first appeared on Tuesday evening.

“We are taking this very seriously and that is why detectives have started an investigation into these threats,” a police spokesperson told AT5.

Four schools have confirmed to the Amsterdam broadcaster that the threats targeted them. The Amsterdam-Diemen partnership, the umbrella organization for all schools in the area, is aware of more schools dealing with threats, also outside the West and Nieuw-West districts. “We find it unfortunate and stressful that this is happening for teachers, parents, and students.”

Last month, four secondary schools in Deventer sent kids home after an online threat of a school shooting. In April and May last year, multiple schools across the country were confronted with such threats, including around 20 Amsterdam schools. No shooting actually occurred.