Pawnee Students Accused Of Planning School Shooting No Longer In Custody

Two teenagers accused of planning a school shooting in Pawnee are out of custody Friday night.

According to the Pawnee law enforcement and the District Attorney’s office, the condition of their release cannot be revealed because the students are under 18.

The Pawnee County Sheriff's Office arrested the two Pawnee High School sophomores after receiving a tip through Oklahoma City CrimeStoppers about a threat for a mass shooting at Pawnee schools.

Pawnee Police Chief Wesley Clymer says he can't go into detail about the threat or the tip, but says it was credible.

"I can tell you that there was enough there that we didn't believe it to be a hoax, we didn't believe it to be a joke. And the detention of the juveniles was very warranted," said Clymer.

Police say the young men were also planning to take their own lives.

"There's a host of emotions, not only as a parent, or as a police officer, but in a town this size, everyone knows everyone. So, it is kind of unbelievable," said Clymer.

"We see those little kids, and you just want to protect them," said Pawnee resident Martha Ray

Martha lives just across the street from the high school and middle school. She and her husband both taught with the district for decades.

"Everybody in this community has people, has students somewhere in that school. Whether its grade school or high school or junior high," said Martha.

She's thankful for whoever picked up the phone to give police the tip about the potential for a mass shooting.

"We care about our community, our kids, and I just pray for them every day," said Martha.

Even though the district is still on summer break, it sent out an alert to parents, so they would be aware of the threat. The district gave us a copy of that alert you can read it below.