Police believe they know who wrote threatening note at Novi High

By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published October 23, 2023

NOVI — Novi police believe they have found the person responsible for writing a threatening note that was found in the bathroom at Novi High School Oct. 6. Police said there also was a threatening email received soon after the note.

The note, found at 10:32 a.m., according to Novi police, forced the district to order students and staff to shelter in place. A shelter-in-place order means that students remain in their classrooms at the time of the order, instead of traveling from classroom to classroom.

Novi police said the threatening email was received at 10:46 a.m.

“We have developed a suspect who we are confident did it,” said Novi Police Cmdr. Jason Meier. “The case is at the Prosecutor’s Office for review.”

Meier said the case was submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office early last week. He couldn’t give many details due to the suspect’s age and due to there being no formal charges yet.

When school staff learned of the threat, the administration and the Novi Police Department did “a thorough search of the building before resuming classes as usual,” according to Novi Community School District Superintendent Ben Mainka. The shelter-in-place order was lifted at 1:05 p.m., and students resumed their day with an abbreviated schedule. The school day ended at the regular time.