South St. Paul Public Schools moves to e-learning after threat; man arrested

SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A man is in custody after allegedly making a threat of violence toward South St. Paul Public Schools, prompting officials to cancel in-person classes and shift to e-learning on Wednesday.

Threat toward schools

What we know:

The South St. Paul Police Department says it was alerted to an incident in St. Paul early Wednesday morning. A man, who fled before officers arrived, had allegedly made a "specific threat of violence against South St. Paul Public Schools, along with other offenses."

Police worked to locate the man and determine the credibility of the threat. However, with the school day approaching and limited time to access the situation, district officials made the decision to move classes online out of an abundance of caution. 

At around 10:30 a.m., police say the 29-year-old man voluntarily surrendered at the South St. Paul Police Department and was taken into custody.

What we don't know:

Authorities haven't revealed what the threat was or how it was made. The investigation remains ongoing. 

Dig deeper:

The threat at South St. Paul Public Schools comes a day after Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan public schools (District 196) were closed on Tuesday due to a threat. 

Authorities said the threats made toward District 196 originated from out of state, and the threats were not credible and didn't pose a danger to the school community. The FBI is now leading the investigation into that threat.