EDINBURG – Threats caused some tense moments for at least four Rio Grande Valley schools.

Some of the protocols followed when handling a threat made to a school come from Senate Bill 11. The Texas Legislature passed it in 2019 and it states each district must establish a threat assessment and safety support team.

Edinburg Consolidate Independent School District police Chief Ricardo Perez says the department received an alert from students about the recent threats. He says the first step in responding is separating the facts from fiction.

“When information is first seen, it is not factual. It is all hearsay. You have people saying ‘well, I heard this’ and ‘I heard that’ and you don’t act on that information. We act on facts,” said Perez.

Next, once the assessment teams report, the district’s police department calls in support if they need it, including local cybercrime investigators.

Watch the video above for the full report.