PRINCETON, Texas — The homecoming dance at one North Texas high school had to end early on Saturday following reports of a threat on social media, authorities said.
Police in the Collin County city of Princeton said in a statement that they responded to Lovelady High School's dance in regards to reports from students.
According to police, students reported seeing a threat on social media about a person with a gun who was supposed to be at the dance. Students also said they heard gun shots and began running.
“I was like panicking. I was like, 'what should I do,'" Princeton High School senior Melanie Guinto said. “It was not something that they took serious in my honest opinion.”
Police said they were "unable to substantiate the information" after officers and Princeton ISD staff spoke with students.
There were no injuries reported, police said.
In a letter to parents, Princeton ISD Superintendent Donald McIntyre said the district had no information that indicated a weapon was on the campus during the dance and that there were no gunshots fired.
In the moment students feared both the threat and presence of a gun, they fled and called parents.
Guinto's mother, Janette Avila, said she froze at first.
“I told them just hide somewhere, calm down, you dad is on the way," Avila said. "For a parent, you hearing that call. It’s not – yeah it’s not fun at all.”
Guinto and her sister were afraid to attend school after the incident. The district said 18% of high school students, about 300 total, didn't show up for school Monday.
“I thought probably nothing is going to happen," Avila said. "But if they don’t feel safe I don’t want to just throw them in and force them to go.”
Niki Lankford also kept her high school daughter home. She got a call at 10:15 p.m. Saturday, hopped out of bed, got in her car without even putting on shoes and came to pick up her daughter.
“I could tell she was running and she was crying and she said, ‘mom, help me. Somebody has a gun'," Lankford said. “There were kids everywhere running in every direction. They were all crying. They were looking for the parents. It was just total chaos.”
Princeton ISD said there was an increased law enforcement presence at the district's high schools on Monday. It said security at the dance included one uniformed resource officer, principals and parent volunteers. District officials also said there are no current policies changes planned to improve security or prevent a repeat of what happened at the dance.
Some students reported the water at the dance had been drugged. District officials said they investigated and found no evidence drinks were spiked.
“I don’t trust going to school dances because what if it’s going to be the same thing and they don’t have anything prepared," Guinto said.
“There needs to be some kind of answer here. They can’t just leave it like this," Lankford said. “We’ve had no real updates and no answers.”
Further details were not released as the investigation continues.