An unsubstantiated threat of a potential shooting at Houston Middle School in Hobbs circulated through a Facebook group a few days ago. The recent incident is the second time this year that Houston Middle School has been plagued with the threat of gun violence.

In April the school was briefly locked down while police responded to a report that two individuals dressed in black had entered the school with a firearm.

Both last week’s and April’s threats were quickly deemed to be without merit by law enforcement. Still, Hobbs Municipal Schools (HMS) Superintendent Gene Strickland and administrators from other Lea County school districts consider such threats very troubling. Ensuring the safety of students, staff and all stakeholders at area schools is serious business.

Four students were involved in the recent Houston Middle School incident. The names of these students, all juveniles, have not been released, although the school district is taking action to discipline them. The Hobbs Police Department (HPD) is additionally exploring the possibility of criminal charges.

Addressing threats of gun violence is an ongoing problem for Hobbs Municipal Schools and all Lea County Schools. Earlier this school year law enforcement was called to Eunice High School in response to a report of a student bringing a firearm to that school. The incident resulted in the lockdown of the school district for a short period of time.

At the most recent meeting of the HMS Board of Directors Superintendent Strickland spoke about the importance of directly notifying law enforcement, the school principal and/or the school district anytime one becomes aware of the threat of school gun violence. Strickland says that using social media to circulate such information “delays” response time.

Explaining the recent incident at Houston Middle School, Superintendent Strickland said that the threat started as a “joke” among friends and evolved into a “problem when it became part of social media.” The bottom line is to refrain from circulating information about potential gun violence on social media.

More Police Presence at Hobbs Schools

A September 19 post on the Hobbs Police Department’s (HPD) Facebook page states, “In an effort to ensure the safety of the children in our community, the Hobbs Police Department has increased the number of School Resource Officers assigned to the public schools.” Whether or not HPD is taking this action as a result of this year’s gun violence threats at Houston Middle School is unknown.

Of note is the fact that HPD is additionally partnering with the New Mexico State Police to increase police presence at Hobbs schools. In fact, students and parents throughout Lea County should regularly expect to see New Mexico State Police officers at their schools. According to the HPD Facebook page, with the goal of keeping “our schools safer”, New Mexico’s state police force is increasing its presence in schools throughout the state.

Notify the School District Directly 

According to an article published by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute, “… nearly three-quarters of American adults and over four-fifths of teens are on at least one social media platform.”

The Brennan Center provides some insight as to how social media has historically impacted school gun violence.

Referring to the May 24, 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the article states that “…recent reporting has revealed that the Uvalde shooter made threats about sexual assaults and school shootings on the social media platform Yubo — and that the users who saw those threats reported them to the platform not once but many times, to no avail.” The article concludes that had law enforcement and/or the school district been informed, “…it would have been appropriate to scrutinize them [the threats] in more detail and to develop a plan for intervention that could have averted the catastrophe.”

Contact numbers for Lea County school district offices are:

• Eunice (575) 394-3154
• Hobbs (575) 433-0500
• Jal (575) 395-2101
• Lovington (575) 739-2200
• Tatum (575) 398-4455