Social media and video games may have more value than simple entertainment. They may be a valuable source of information and communications for school leaders.

The Vancouver Sun reports that “A conversation a B.C. man had online with a stranger while playing an Xbox game raised some alarm bells, and the man’s quick thinking may have averted a high school shooting in Texas, police say.” Participants in an Xbox Live chat session overheard another participant threatening friends and staff members at his school. One alert individual notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“A conversation started with one player who spoke about being a high school senior who was failing academically. The chat then took a more ominous turn as the student detailed plans to take part in a shooting at his school the following day.

“The suspect indicated he was a senior at his high school, had failing grades and mentioned names of students he was targeting, along with plans about how the shooting would proceed,” said Port Alberni RCMP Staff Sgt. Lee Omilusik. The RCMP alerted Microsoft Security, who traced the source to San Antonio, Texas.

According to a San Antonio News-Express report, the suspect was identified as 16-year old student attending Marshall High School, which is in the Northside Independent School District.

“Pascual Gonzalez, a spokesman for Northside Independent School District, said the boy and his mother met with the high school principal and said authorities searched the boy's locker and found nothing. “The boy was very remorseful and very scared,” Gonzalez said. “We believe that the boy truly was sorry for what he was doing, but in this day and age you have to take all of these kinds of verbal statements, these verbal threats, very seriously and he's going to have to learn that the hard way.” The student was suspended and is not allowed to return to Marshall.”

Because the threat involved a school, the San Antonio police indicate that the student will be charged with a felony.