BEAUMONT, Texas — Aside from the challenges teachers are already facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one Beaumont teacher has one more thing to worry about.
A social media threat sent to a teacher at Taylor Career and Technology Center has raised red flags for the entire district.
Ira Wilsker, a business technologies professor at Lamar Institute of Technology, said this is not an uncommon thing.
"Only with the availability of technology and social media, it has become much easier and a little bit more frequent," Wilsker said.
So frequent, the messages were sent from three different accounts. Some of the threats read "Stop sending work," "Quit your job," and a picture of what appears to be a pipe bomb with a message that says "Waiting at your door."
"It's to create fear, it's to create anxiety and tension. That's why Texas calls it legally, a terroristic threat," Wilsker said.
Wilsker said the probability of the threats become violent is pretty low, but Beaumont ISD police aren't taking any chances.
The department released a statement to 12News, saying "The district takes any and all threats seriously and is doing so in this situation."
So, is it easy to track down the culprit behind the keyboard?
"Usually -- not always -- they can accurately tell where a post came from even to the point of who posted it. The problem is that Facebook, again for privacy and legal reasons, is extremely reluctant," Wilsker said.
It's not an easy process. So, here are some things you'll want to do if you're ever put in the same situation.
"Contact your local law enforcement -- that could start the investigative ball rolling. Do not delete the post. Do not turn off your computer. Don't want to do anything that's going to compromise the evidence," Wilsker said.
This is still an ongoing investigation.