At least 12 schools in Paraguay receive shooting threats; authorities probe possible viral challenge
The phenomenon extends beyond Paraguay. In Argentina, threats with nearly identical messages — Tomorrow, shooting. Don’t come — appeared in at least a dozen schools across Buenos Aires
At least 12 schools in Paraguay received shooting threats between Thursday and Friday, with messages written on bathroom walls reading tomorrow there will be a shooting, said Sonia Escauriza, director of Child and Adolescent Protection at the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC). The figure rose to 13 in the following hours, according to the same official in statements to radio station Universo 970 AM.
Escauriza told EFE that all cases showed the same characteristics and that the main line of investigation is that they stem from a social media challenge, possibly originating on TikTok. We cannot say any of them is a joke, she clarified, noting that each case is being handled seriously. Security protocols were activated and each report was forwarded to the National Police. Classes were suspended as a precaution in at least three institutions.
The affected schools are located in Asunción, Villa Elisa, Ypané, Areguá and Itá, in the Central department. Commissioner Andrea Gaona, deputy head of the School Security Department, confirmed at least four formal complaints and noted that the kids copy what they see on social media and treat it as a game, but we must take it seriously. According to authorities, the suspected authors of the threats are students aged 13 to 14.
The MEC adopted a more pedagogical than punitive approach. The first response cannot be expulsion when we are talking about children who in other cases were only 9 years old. The approach must focus on engagement and support, Escauriza explained, according to ABC Color.
A separate case was reported Thursday at the Cristo Rey school in Asunción, where classes were suspended after a threat of an armed raid was received via WhatsApp from an armed forces reservist involved in a legal dispute with the institution. The individual, who had an outstanding arrest warrant, was detained the same day. Prosecutors charged him with making threats and requested preventive detention.
The phenomenon extends beyond Paraguay. In Argentina, threats with nearly identical messages — Tomorrow, shooting. Don’t come — appeared in at least a dozen schools across Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Tucumán, Mendoza, Chubut, Neuquén, Jujuy, Entre Ríos and La Pampa, according to La Nación. The threats come less than a month after a student was killed at a school in San Cristóbal, Santa Fe, on March 27, where the attacker was part of an online community that glorified school massacres.
In Chile, threats were also reported at schools in Lo Barnechea, Santiago, where Mayor Felipe Alessandri warned that anyone who threatens a shooting is not playing and did not rule out expulsions.
Escauriza stressed the importance of family involvement. Social media is generally used at home or outside school. If they bring dangerous objects, those also come from the home. It is very important that this can be addressed at home, she said.
