Classes to resume at Richfield secondary schools Tuesday after online threats

RICHFIELD, Minn. – Online threats prompted the closure of four schools in Richfield on Monday, district leaders said.

The threats came early Monday morning and school officials did not provide more details about what they were. It comes after Friday's shooting outside a Richfield High School football game that injured two people.

"While we have been partnering with police to investigate the credibility of the threats, due to the timing and the recent events outside our homecoming game, we have made the decision to close our secondary schools today," Superintendent Steven Unowsky said in a statement.

The impacted schools Monday were Richfield Middle School, Richfield High School and the Richfield College Experience Program. The Richfield district-run programs at the South Education Center also closed, but all other programs in the building were in session.

Classes will resume Tuesday for all Richfield schools.

Richfield police in a statement Monday afternoon said the department is working with other law enforcement to track down the threats, and it boosted patrols at schools in the district.

"Although general in nature, the Richfield Police Department is working with our state and county law enforcement partners to determine the source and validity of the threats," police wrote on a Facebook post.

All elementary schools remained open because they were not targeted in the threats, school officials said, but parents had the option to keep their kids home as an excused absence.

Some took the district up on its offer, including Chris Axelson, who has children in second grade, kindergarten, and pre-school. Parents got notifications of the secondary school closures early Monday.

"We just decided - I think we'd feel safer if we just kept our kids home and gave them a day to just not think about it and not see the police and extra staff at school and be outside," Axelson said.

But Axelson didn't want the scare of threats or Friday's shooting steal his kids' joy. He posted a community Facebook group asking if others had made the same decision to elementary students, and if they wanted to meet at a local park so the kids play together.

"Let's just not think about it. Let's have pizza and talk about Richfield and get to know each other - different parents and kids - and have a good time," he said.

Brie Geurink and Stephanie Keen-Carlson, who didn't know Axelson, saw the post and showed up with their kids.

"My second grader, like [Geurink's] fourth grader, was pretty nervous and got teary and said, 'I don't really feel safe at school today,'" Keen-Carlson said. "So coming here and being with friends felt like the right thing to do."

Both acknowledged the timing of the events - threats leading to the closing of schools and the homecoming shooting - is difficult for people who live in the community. But they said the meet-up with neighbors made them hopeful that Richfield could move forward.

"This kind of feeling and community vibe is reaffirming," said Geurink. "There are others who want to help others and help support everybody in the best way we can."

Police said a 16-year-old suspected of "instigating the altercation" and a 15-year-old who is the alleged shooter were arrested separately Saturday in connection with the shooting Friday at the football game.

The 16-year-old is a former Richfield High School student, and the 15-year-old currently attends the school. Both teens are being held at the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center.

Two men, ages 18 and 21, were shot, police said. On Sunday, officials said both "are recovering at their homes in good condition."