A 25-year-old man was arrested after allegedly posing as a Hurricane Harvey evacuee and enrolling as a freshman at a Dallas ISD high school. 
 
 Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley apparently enrolled at Hillcrest High School under the name Rashun Richardson after claiming to be a victim displaced by Harvey, which made landfall in the Houston area in mid-August. 
 
 He was booked into the Dallas County Jail Friday on charges of tampering with government records and has since been released. 
 
 Gilstrap-Portley had enrolled at Skyline High School in August and re-enrolled at Hillcrest two months later, WFAA confirmed. 
 
 The reasons for his enrollment in Dallas ISD, and for the transfer, weren’t immediately clear. 
 
 “This school year our district welcomed evacuees displaced by Hurricane Harvey. During that time, an individual used that opportunity for personal gain,” district spokeswoman Robyn Harris told WFAA. 
 
 DISD told WFAA that when a student enrolls and claims they are homeless or an evacuee due to a natural disaster, federal law exempts them from requiring documents they might not have. 
 
 Dallas Hillcrest was led by 6’2 Guard 🌡📈🎒💉Rashun Richardson 34 points 15 Rebounds #ChrisBoshShootout Coaches he gave the #1 team in the Nation a 40🏀 in 3 quarters a few weeks ago! 💪🏾🔋⛽️ pic.twitter.com/un2YCLEVBt — GT Prospect Report™© (@ProspectsReport) December 9, 2017 
 
 A district spokesperson said Gilstrap-Portley may have provided as little as just immunization records and proof of a physical. 
 
 The last day he showed up to class was April 25, the district said. 
 
 Gilstrap-Portley even played for the Hillcrest basketball team, the school confirmed. According to a write-up by the Preston Hollow People, “Rashun Richardson” scored 17 points in the team’s first-round playoff loss. 
 
 Gilstrap-Portley graduated from North Mesquite High School in 2011, a source told WFAA. It was revealed that he was an imposter when his former basketball coach recently saw him playing for a high school team, the source said. 
 
 For more on this story, including a statement from Hillcrest principal Chris Bayer, please visit our TEGNA partner WFAA. ||||| "He was always respectful to me. He said he understood my concerns but said that he was only 17 and that he didn't see a problem with them dating." 
 
 She said teachers and coaches at Hillcrest told her that he was a good kid, but that he seemed to have been through a lot and came off as much older than 17 years old. 
 
 The woman said she never suspected Gilstrap-Portley was leading a double life until a detective contacted her Monday. The detective told her that Gilstrap-Portley, who has a young child, claimed he was looking to start over his athletic career by playing for a high school again, the mother said. 
 
 "I’m upset, frustrated, angry and sad at the same time," she said. "If it’s happening at Hillcrest, then it could be happening somewhere else. People need to know. It could have gone differently if he had other intentions to hurt her or to traffic her." 
 
 Hurricane Harvey claim 
 
 Hillcrest principal Chris Bayer said in a letter to students and parents Tuesday that the school immediately notified the district and local authorities once it "became aware of a student enrolled at our school under false pretenses claiming to be a displaced Hurricane Harvey victim." 
 
 
 
 "We believe it is absolutely essential that every young person, especially in times of great difficulty, feels safe and secure, and that was the guiding principle when we were welcoming students displaced by the hurricane," Bayer said. "This is a unique situation that shows us areas that need improving when we open our doors to students in times of need." ||||| Officials release email threat to HISD schools 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Photo: Cody Duty Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Image 1 of 4 At the Arabic Immersion School in north Houston, a police car blocked one entrance, and an officer patrolled the sidewalk on the other side of the campus in the wake of terror threats across the country. Dec. 17, 2015 less At the Arabic Immersion School in north Houston, a police car blocked one entrance, and an officer patrolled the sidewalk on the other side of the campus in the wake of terror threats across the country. Dec. ... more Photo: Cody Duty Image 2 of 4 At the Arabic Immersion School in north Houston, a police car blocked one entrance, and an officer patrolled the sidewalk on the other side of the campus in the wake of terror threats across the country. Dec. 17, 2015 less At the Arabic Immersion School in north Houston, a police car blocked one entrance, and an officer patrolled the sidewalk on the other side of the campus in the wake of terror threats across the country. Dec. ... more Photo: Cody Duty Image 3 of 4 
 
 The L.A. school system received a similar threat earlier this week. Keep clicking to see photos from the scare that closed schools. less Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier said students' safety is the district's No. 1 priority. HISD received a threat targeting unnamed campuses. 
 
 The L.A. school system received a similar ... more Houston Independent School District Superintendent Terry Grier said students' safety is the district's No. 1 priority. HISD received a threat targeting unnamed campuses. Photo: Brett Coomer, Staff Image 4 of 4 A lock holds the gate shut at Edward Roybal High School in Los Angeles, on Tuesday morning, Dec. 15, 2015. All schools in the vast Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, have been ordered closed due to an electronic threat Tuesday. less A lock holds the gate shut at Edward Roybal High School in Los Angeles, on Tuesday morning, Dec. 15, 2015. All schools in the vast Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest, have been ... more Photo: Richard Vogel, AP Officials release email threat to HISD schools 1 / 4 Back to Gallery 
 
 Houston Independent School District leaders on Thursday disclosed additional details about an email sent to Superintendent Terry Grier and others threatening widespread violence at unnamed campuses, similar to messages sent earlier this week to Los Angeles and New York that were considered hoaxes. 
 
 The email was not sent from Houston and was "over the top" based on "type of weapons and explosives that were going to be used," HISD Police Chief Robert Mock said. 
 
 The message, he said, was "very similar" to the one posted in California, and district officials are seeking FBI approval to release it. 
 
 At least one change had been made to an email earlier to another district, with "Allah" capitalized, Mock said. 
 
 The email was sent Wednesday night to about half a dozen HISD employees, including the generic email for the superintendent, Mock said. The message was forwarded to the police chief at 8:17 p.m., chief of staff Jason Spencer said, and officers began meeting while Grier called superintendents across the country. 
 
 HISD released the email Thursday afternoon: 
 
 Hello there. There is something you should know about, taking place 
 
 tomorrow of 12/17/15, Thursday. 
 
 My story starts here. I have been bullied every day here, in one of the 
 
 district high schools. Just because, I am 'different'. I turned to 
 
 religion, to solve my problems, and found faith and comfort in Allah. He 
 
 has helped me through a lot. So now, I must help him. He has called upon 
 
 me and my fellow comrades to take action against you blasphemers and 
 
 non-believers. You have denied Allah for too long. My 46 Jihad 
 
 affiliates and I are going to unleash an massacre of epic proportion, 
 
 targeting every single school and student in the district. We have an 
 
 assorted collection of Kalashnikov rifles, MG240 Light machine guns, RPG 
 
 Launchers, .50 Cal Sniper rifles, hand grenades, and to top it off: 
 
 suicide vests. We have already planted napalm, propane, and pressure 
 
 cooker explosives in multiple schools. They are set to go off in places 
 
 that will cause maximum structural damage to each building: for maximum 
 
 casualty. First responders will be in for quite the surprise, as we have 
 
 highly trained sniper forces straight from Ar Raqqa. We will fight for 
 
 our cause tomorrow, and all students in every school in the entire 
 
 district will be slaughtered for their blasphemy and unbelief in the one 
 
 true God, Allah. You will no longer get away with your dishonesty to our 
 
 prophet. 
 
 Allah has called upon us: 
 
 Quran (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with 
 
 terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have 
 
 anyone to help." 
 
 You will no longer deny the wrath of Allah. He has sent us to serve his 
 
 holy army. 
 
 My name is (name redacted). You may not know this name now, 
 
 but my name will be known to everyone. I will be known as the one man 
 
 who truly saved this earth. For Allah. 
 
 And if you think you will stop us, by canceling schools, or perhaps, 
 
 adding security, it will not help. 
 
 If school is canceled, then there will be bombings regardless of whether 
 
 students are there or not, and mass shootings will be taken to the 
 
 streets. If security is stepped up, for tomorrow's fatwa, it will not 
 
 help. We will take out any police and other security by any means 
 
 necessary, even if we go down with them. 
 
 الله أكبر 
 
 ‏محمد رسول الله 
 
 The similarity of the email to the one sent to various districts was a major reason that HISD officials deemed it not credible and decided to keep schools open Thursday, Mock said, adding that he sent his own children. 
 
 "It's not sophisticated. It's an email," Mock said. "Not to downplay it, a threat is a threat." 
 
 HISD called in all of its police officers on overtime Thursday morning to patrol schools, and tapped several other agencies, including the Houston, Bellaire and West University police departments, according to district spokeswoman Holly Huffman. 
 
 The district maintenance staff also checked every school, Huffman said. 
 
 "Everything's been normal this morning," said Mock. 
 
 District officials told parents in an automated phone call around 10 p.m. Wednesday that they had received a threat that they did not deem the threat credible and that schools would be open Thursday. A call with updates went out around 11 a.m. Thursday. 
 
 "As a precautionary measure," the original message said, "law enforcement officers are currently conducting random sweeps of school district buildings to ensure student safety." 
 
 At the Arabic Immersion School in north Houston, a police car blocked one entrance, and an officer patrolled the sidewalk on the other side of the campus Thursday morning. 
 
 "There's no concern," said one man dropping off a student, declining to give his name. 
 
 Erika Carrillo said she received the warning message from HISD Wednesday night, but brought her 6-year-old son to school Thursday morning to maintain routine and not make the boy nervous. 
 
 "I don't want to live scared. I need to live normally," she said, as she walked her son into the magnet school. 
 
 At Pershing Middle School in southwest Houston, Antonio Toledo dropped off his daughter, saying he wasn't worried about the threat because it had no specific details. 
 
 Sam Olivares, bringing her daughter to Pershing Middle School at 3838 Blue Bonnet, said she hadn't heard about the threat. But even if she had known about it, her three children would still have come to school. 
 
 "I'm one of the ones who believe that it shouldn't scare you away," said Olivares, who has a daughter at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and a son at Bellaire High School. "To me, that's their entire point -- to get you to be afraid." 
 
 Patricia Lopez, a fifth grade teacher at Mark Twain Elementary next door to Pershing, was in the process of taking one daughter to Lanier Middle School and another to Lamar High School. 
 
 "It's disturbing because we can't take any threat lightly," Lopez said, noting that public attention to the issue makes children fearful, which saddens her as a parent and educator. 
 
 "The district's responsibility is obviously the safety of the community, but the way social media exploits it makes it incredibly hard to keep things calm," Lopez said. "I'm assuming that a lot of children won't be going to school today." 
 
 David Quan, walking his dog near Pershing, said his son would be in class at Lamar High School. 
 
 Although concerned about the threat, Quan said it wasn't as disconcerting as a more specific one the high school received last year. 
 
 "We listened carefully to the information from HISD," Quan said of the automated phone call Wednesday evening. "It sounds like such an unspecific threat, so similar to threats in other cities that also weren't specific (and proved not to be legitimate)." 
 
 Alison, who declined to give her last name as she dropped off her son at Pershing, said such incidents put the school district in a bad situation. 
 
 "If they don't do anything, they're criticized, and if they announce it, they're criticized," Alison said. "It's finals week. If the kids miss, their grades will be affected." 
 
 Edgardo Hernandez, who has one son at Pershing, said he wasn't afraid of the threat. "God is with us," he said. 
 
 (Listen to HISD's message below. The story continues after the audio file.) 
 
 The email was received by HISD at 8:17 p.m. Wednesday, according to chief of staff Jason Spencer. 
 
 District officials confirmed that Dallas ISD and Miami-Dade public schools received nearly identical messages to the one sent to HISD. And these emails, officials said, were very similar to those sent a day earlier to the larger Los Angeles and New York districts. 
 
 HISD leaders did not disclose specifics of the email, citing an ongoing law enforcement investigation. 
 
 “The safety of our students and staff has always been my No. 1 priority,” Superintendent Terry Grier said in a brief interview Wednesday night after consulting with police and deciding not to cancel school. “Even though the threats in L.A. and New York turned out to be hoaxes, we’ve taken it seriously.” 
 
 HISD is the nation’s seventh-largest school district, enrolling roughly 215,000 students in about 280 campuses. 
 
 Dallas Independent School District staff members said they received a similar threat about 8 p.m. Tuesday at Pinkston High School and Martinez Elementary School. 
 
 Officials said Dallas ISD have remained in contact with the Dallas Police Department as well as the Joint Terrorism Task Force since being made aware of the threat. A sweep of both Pinkston High School and Martinez Elementary was conducted. Bomb sniffing canines were brought to each campus. 
 
 At 2:20 a.m. Thursday, police found no credible threat and released the buildings back to the district. Our schools have been deemed safe and the district will be open for normal business today. Beefed up police presence is expected at district campuses. 
 
 The New York and Los Angeles school systems, which both received email threats Tuesday, took different approaches, with L.A. shutting down more than 900 schools and New York dismissing it as a hoax. Those messages, however, were distinct. 
 
 The email sent to school officials in New York said 139 attackers would launch an assault with guns and bombs and all would die in the name of Allah. The Los Angeles email, however, mentioned 33 attackers, according to U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, a former chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism. 
 
 RELATED: School threats prompt proposals for tougher penalties 
 
 While it’s unlikely that a few dozen people could plan a coordinated single-day assault on the nation’s second-largest district without drawing the attention of law enforcement, the idea that 139 people could do it in New York is downright “fanciful,” the California Democrat said. 
 
 “That is the biggest difference between these emails,” Sherman told the Associated Press. 
 
 “Thirty-three was not terribly credible, but 139 is outlandish.” 
 
 FBI officials in Houston said late Wednesday that they were unaware of any threats to HISD campuses. An FBI spokeswoman said she would check Thursday with the agency’s Joint Terrorism Task Force but had no further information. 
 
 The email threat came just two days before HISD will be closed for winter break. 
 
 “You have to think of absolutely every precaution with this type of event,” said Zeph Capo, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers union. “I understand HISD is doing that.” 
 
 “That whoever’s behind this would target schoolchildren is very upsetting,” Capo added. 
 
 “Teachers more and more each and every day are in the line of fire protecting kids, quite literally. It’s a new reality we’re waking up to in today’s day and age. It’s extremely unfortunate.” 
 
 Houston ISD school board president Rhonda Skillern-Jones said the district has received threats in the past but not identical to this one, which follows the terrorist-linked mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. She said the district will have increased security at schools Thursday and other law enforcement agencies were alerted. 
 
 “The FBI and our surrounding agencies are professionals at this,” Skillern-Jones said. “They are the best source of intelligence for these things. If they don’t believe it’s a credible threat, I don’t imagine we would cancel school." 
 
 Chronicle reporters Mike Glenn and Emma Hinchliffe contributed to this report, which contains material from the Associated Press.
– A "savvy" 25-year-old gamed the Dallas school system and posed as a high school student, all apparently so he could play some basketball, officials say. The Dallas Morning News reports Sidney Bouvier Gilstrap-Portley was arrested Friday after authorities say he pretended to be 17-year-old "Rashaun Richardson" and enrolled at two high schools—first Skyline in August, then Hillcrest in October, where he joined that school's basketball team and was voted District 11-5A's offensive player of the year. The Dallas ISD superintendent says the "perfect storm" that led to this involved an actual storm: Gilstrap-Portley reportedly said he'd been left homeless by Hurricane Harvey and came to Dallas alone. More: The district tells WFAA students who've been through a natural disaster or are homeless aren't asked for the same documentation that's typically required, per federal law. Gilstrap-Portley may have scammed his way in with just immunization and physical records, a district rep says.