'People We Should Kill' list stirs concerns in Maryland school district

CHESAPEAKE CITY, Md. (CITC) — A rural Maryland school system has responded to concerns over a newly discovered "People We Should Kill" list penned by two area middle schoolers.

On May 1, teachers and administrators at Bohemia Manor Middle School in Chesapeake City, Md. became aware of a series of social media posts showing pictures of a notebook that contained a list of 23 first names of students. The notebook's title was "People We Should Kill."

According to Cecil County Public Schools sources speaking to Crisis in the Classroom (CITC), the list was composed by two students during a sleepover at the beginning of the academic year.

Sources also told CITC the two authors lost their secret notebook last fall, which turned out to be in possession of a third unknown student at the school. When this student showed one of their friends, that student took photographs of the notebook and posted images on their social media accounts.

Last week, school sources tell CITC the Cecil County Sheriff's Office worked with teachers and administrators to identify the notebook's authors. The students were questioned and the school released an initial e-mail on Friday notifying parents of the "kill list" discovery.

"We had a tough time staying ahead of social media because we tend to not respond until we absolutely know certain truth," Cecil County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey A. Lawson told CITC.

When asked if there is still an ongoing threat to the Bohemia Manor community, Lawson told CITC any threats have been mitigated.

"In our threat assessment guide, a term that gets used is 'transient'. A transient threat means that a threat comes and a threat goes." Lawson said. "When [school officials] start to investigate and get the context of the threat, while they might lower their concern, the typical family doesn't."

When your 12-year-old comes home and you learn their name is on a 'kill list', the way things are these days, they're [parents] really concerned and rightfully so," Lawson added.

The Cecil County Public Schools is offering open conference sessions on Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to address any parent questions regarding the kill list incident.