At approximately 7:46 P.M. on Wednesday April 10th, 2019 the Junction City Police Department and other law enforcement agencies from Eugene to Albany began receiving multiple 911 and emergency calls from people reporting seeing posts on Snapchat, Instagram, and other social media sites. The posts indicated the possibility of school shootings that were going to occur on Thursday April 11th. While the information received varied, the threats were confined to supposedly involve only the Junction City High School, Harrisburg High School, or perhaps both. By 11:00 P.M. Wednesday night a number of witnesses had been interviewed and a juvenile suspect identified. Officers from the Junction City Police Department and the Linn County Sheriff’s Office made contact with the suspect and the parents at their home. Preliminary investigation has tentatively revealed the suspect made some poorly chosen inappropriate comments that were possibly taken out of context, but at this time it does not appear the subject had a culpable mental state, nor actually intended to commit any crime. All information indicates the suspect acted alone. Both the parents and the suspect were extremely cooperative. Two shotguns, one rifle, one .45 caliber pistol, one pellet gun, and one BB-gun were seized for safekeeping. Subsequent investigation revealed the rifle and one of the shotguns were most likely stolen in separate incidents; one from a hardware store in Bend, Oregon in 1992, and the other from an unknown location in Muskogee County, Colorado in 2002. The police department is awaiting final confirmation on the status of both weapons from the respective investigating agencies. While the investigating agencies believe there is absolutely no threat of danger to the students or faculty, both schools will have a contingent of law enforcement officers stationed at each, on Thursday, as a precautionary measure and to help people feel safe and secure. The Junction City Police Department, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office, and the University of Oregon Police Department have partnered to provide this enhanced level of law enforcement protection. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
