Katrina Phelan, High School Teacher Arrested For Handing Out Threating Notes To Students
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A mathematics teacher from Abraham Lincoln High School, Katrina Phelan, was arrested on Wednesday for writing anonymous notes of committing a school shooting to scare the kids. She was accused of three counts of making “threats of terrorism,” according to the Council Bluffs Police Department.
Katrina’s teaching license has currently been dismissed and she is under police custody. When asked the reason for the threats Katrina said she did it because of “concern, worry, and frustration over the lack of control of her classroom.” Katrina also allegedly mentioned that she was trying to draw attention to how school was “not a safe place,”
How Did The Incident Take Place?
Katrina Phelan, 27, worked in Abraham Lincoln High School as a Mathematics teacher. Since Katrina was not getting control of her class she decided to change her ways. She anonymously wrote notes of committing school shootings to scare the kids. The notes were written as if they were coming were a troubled child and not a teacher.
Once this was noticed by the authorities they decided to match the handwriting to all the students and faculty members. As the handwriting matched Katrina’s she turned herself in for arrest.
It was later discovered that each of the notes was either found in Katrina’s class or by Katrina herself.
The Council Bluff Police Department wrote in a press release “Detectives conducted an investigation into a series of anonymous handwritten notes found inside the school, all making reference to committing gun violence upon school property. Each of the notes was reportedly either found in Phelan’s classroom or found by Phelan herself, in various locations within the school.”
Even though Katrina Phelan turned herself in for the felony, she reportedly told the police she had no recollection of actually writing any of the notes in question.
According to the police department “It was determined that she had no intentions or means of carrying out these threats. In at least one of the notes, Phelan, posing as an unnamed student, wrote that she was tired of being made fun of.”
As a result of this incident police and school district and law enforcement have decided “to increase the security presence inside the building.”
People’s Response
The response of the people to the case was mixed as some supported Katrina Phelan others were miserably against her actions.
Someone also tweeted:
“Throw the book at this lunatic.
That’s a terrorist threat. #KatrinaPhelan”
Currently, Katrina Phelan is detained in the Pottawatomie County Jail, but her name does not appear on a current roster of jail inmates.
Even though Katrina has performed low-tier felonies, each count carries a possible sentence of up to 5 years in prison.
