Chippewa Falls High School - Photo by WEAU
CHIPPEWA FALLS, WI (WSAU) – A northcentral Wisconsin school district has come under fire after failing to notify parents and families of a recently revealed police report containing details of a bomb threat by a student last fall.
The report was first made public by the conservative news podcast Louder with Crowder, who was the first to release copies of the manifesto belonging to the Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale last year, as well as Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) after they obtained a copy of a police report that contained details behind a manifesto that was written by a Chippewa Falls student actively looking to purchase materials to build bombs and information on how to build them in hopes of creating “the next Columbine.”
According to the report, the investigation began after a staff member found concerning internet searches on the students’ school-issued Chromebook that included “Complete Story of Columbine Shooting on YouTube,” “How to Make Pipe Bombs,” as well as “How to Make a Nuclear Reactor at Home.”
BREAKING: Police Report Confirms “Columbine” Style Mass Shooting Plans Found in @ChippewaFallsSD Student’s “Manifesto”; Specifically Wanted to “Kill” Christians, Jocks, And Preppy Girls with ‘Pipe Bombs’ and ‘Automatic Assault Rifles’; School District Failed to Notify Parents For… pic.twitter.com/z0iO3MO34p
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) February 7, 2024
The police report was filed by Chippewa Falls Police Department officer Dan Downey, who interviewed the student in hopes of “gaining perspective” on the searches, which contained flagged URLs to websites on how to construct various types of explosives. The student allegedly told the officer that the searches were related to a book he was reading called “Anarchist Cookbook,” which has been cited as the inspiration behind numerous terrorist incidents and school threats around the world.
However, the student claimed that he bought the book to learn about self-defense but also stated that “the book really isn’t about self-defense,” according to the report. The student also shared with Downy that he was seeing a school counselor due to issues with depression and being bullied by classmates.
Not long after the interview, Chippewa Falls Police discovered a notebook belonging to the student that they titled “Oporutors Manuel to Manic Violence,” which contained gruesome details on wanting to “kill multiple students” at Chippewa Falls Middle School along with anti-Christian rhetoric and threats against people of faith.
Police searched the student’s home, which uncovered an Amazon account with a Bunsen burner in the saved items list as well as an Israeli rubber respirator mask protector.
Crisis in the Classroom asked the Chippewa Falls Area Unified School District earlier this week if parents were ever notified of this investigation, which occurred back in October, and they confirmed that parents and families were sent home a notice about the incident on Tuesday, February 6th.
“As everyone knows, a school district is prohibited under state and federal law from providing personally identifiable information about student discipline,” the notice reads. “We appreciate parents’ concern and frustration that, at times, we cannot share as much information as we would like; we can only hope that our community will understand that we must follow the law and, if you think about it, almost any parent would want us to use the utmost discretion if it was about their child.”
The district also told parents that no notice was sent out due to officials not believing that any students were “at risk or in harm’s way.” No further comment was provided to either of the outlets.
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