(cc'd to Foundation-l because of para 3)
School shootings are extraordinarily high profile events, nearly always followed by investigations of warnings and foreshadowing events - where blame is cast in a wide net on anyone who failed to notice what, in hindsight, was a "clear sign." Often these "clear signs" are only clear at all in hindsight, because as human beings we interpret what we see based on what we have seen in the past and few of us have encountered threats from children that turned out to be very serious.
Wikipedia is in a unique position to suffer from the recriminations associated with school shootings, and our role is only going to become more widespread and high profile as time goes on. Threats made on Wikipedia have the characteristics of being written, indelible, and traceable to a specific computer (given the right resources). Additionally, threats on Wikipedia are *seen* - this is key, because few threats of violence on Wikipedia get past recent change patrollers and watchlists of attentive editors. So, when a school shooting threat is posting on Wikipedia it is time stamped, indelible, traceable and seen more or less immediately.
The question, then, is what if any moral imperative does this impose on us? And if some of us feel compelled to report such instances to the police, and others do not, what if any should the extent of policy be on this issue? Personally I can't agree to any Wikipedia policy that mandates or punishes behavior off-wiki. On the other hand, I do think a policy that encourages all editors to report specific school threats to AN and (when willing and possible) to the police is workable and a good idea. Frankly, I'm surprised and I'm sure many others would be as well to learn that there isn't already such a Wikipedia policy. At a minimum, we should have a policy of forwarding all such threats to the Wikimedia Foundation for "official" action if necessary.
This issue is distinct from the issue of threats of self-harm, suicide or harm to public figures. While vague threats to celebrities and "I'ma kill Joe, he's a dickwad" are often reverted and ignored as simple and unserious vandalism, school threats have a unique nature in public sentiment and require a unique position in policy. I'm writing this to the two lists because its an issue that deserves a higher profile discussion than on a proposed policy page (already nominated for deletion) with a couple editors who think the policy is trying to force people in calling the cops when they don't want to.
Nathan