6:40 p.m. UPDATE: The Dodge County Sheriff said the man who reportedly made threats while videotaping himself outside Byron High School, is now in custody.
The sheriff’s office said Daniel James Lewison was taken into custody at 6:03 p.m. Thursday evening by Dodge County deputies and the West Concord Police Department.
According to the sheriff’s office, investigators with the Dodge County Sheriff worked with the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office throughout the day to review the threats and eventually located Lewison.
In addition, the Dodge County Sheriff said it will always put the safety of its schools, staff and students first any time it feels “there is even the slightest safety risk,” and it thanked the school district partners and area law enforcement partners for “helping keep everyone safe today.”
The charges Lewison is facing are not known at this time, though the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office said it will refer charges related to this investigation to the Olmsted County Attorney’s Office on Friday.
Southeast Minn. (KTTC) – Four area school districts took extra security measures Thursday morning: Byron, Hayfield, Kasson-Mantorville and Triton.
Early into the school day on Thursday, four schools were advised by law enforcement to enact a soft lockdown as authorities investigated a ‘concerning’ video that was posted on Facebook.
The video features a man identified as Daniel James Lewison speaking to the camera while standing just outside the Byron High School.
As of 3 p.m. Thursday, Byron, Kasson-Mantorville and Triton school districts have all confirmed with KTTC that their lockdowns have been lifted.
According to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement located Lewison, but he was not arrested.
Reportedly, the Department of Corrections denied him being placed in custody and he is instead on probation.
Previous reporting below:
Byron:
11:50 p.m.: Byron has lifted the lockdown following an update from the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office.
11:20 a.m.: Byron is canceling the afternoon preschool classes for Thursday.
Byron High School went into a soft lockdown around 9:20 a.m.
According to Superintendent Nate Walbruch, the Byron district followed the request of the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office after a community member’s “concerning behavior.”
Walbruch says the decision was made out of an abundance of caution and there was no direct threat to the school.
The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office says it was made aware by the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office of a ‘potential concerning incident’ in the county.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we contacted Byron Public Schools and requested they place their buildings on a soft lockdown,” OCSO says.
Law enforcement says there is no direct or active threat to the safety of the school buildings, students or staff.
OCSO did not make any mention of the other school districts.
KTTC is still working to source information for those.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Olmsted County Sheriff Kevin Torgerson said threats were made towards law enforcement.
“The video made some threats towards law enforcement officers, attorneys, judges and counties in general, basically saying he was coming after them,” the sheriff said. “He was quite upset and repeated some various statements. One thing that was notable was it was in front of a school.”
Sheriff Torgerson said no schools were identified in the threats, and none of the people listed were children or teachers or staff at Byron High School. The sheriff added Dodge County was able to identify the man behind the threats as Daniel Jeans-Lewison, 55, who reportedly had “previous contacts” with Dodge County authorities.
The sheriff also said the video was determined to not be a live video, and was not taped on Thursday, and that it was “likely” taped or created on Tuesday this week outside Byron High School.
“We sought then to try to find him and locate him through investigative measures,” the sheriff said. “He was located then in Iowa. We contacted the sheriff’s office there who did have contact with him. We’ll work with our county attorney’s office to determine if there are some new charges we can place on him at some point and take him into custody or formally charge him.”
Hayfield:
Hayfield has not yet confirmed that its lockdown has been lifted as of 3 p.m. Thursday.
The Hayfield School District entered a secure lockdown at approximately 10:05 a.m.
Superintendent Gregg Slaathaug says the district was advised by local police to initiate the lockdown out of an abundance of caution. He says all recommended safety protocols are being followed.
Kasson-Mantorville:
The Kasson-Mantorville School District lifted its lockdown at 11:55.
The Kasson Police Department released a statement regarding the soft lockdown.
KPD was made aware of a “concerning video” posted on Facebook that was taken just outside the Byron High School building around 9 a.m.
Out of an abundance of caution, KPD recommended that the KM school district and Zumbro Education District go into lockdown at 9:42 a.m.
KPD says there is no active threat to the KM area at this time.
Triton:
The Triton School District also confirmed that their lockdown has been lifted as well.
Blooming Prairie:
The Blooming Prairie school district told KTTC that it did not go into lockdown but did hold students inside during recess.
It also said it’s working closely with law enforcement.
This situation comes shortly after threatening calls were made to Rochester Catholic Schools earlier this month. Authorities have since stated that the calls were made from overseas and reassured parents that the threats were not credible.
This is a developing story.
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