Social media threat that delayed Connellsville district Monday determined to be a joke
The Connellsville Area School District delayed classes for two hours Monday because of an altered social media post that was made to look like a threat.
District Superintendent David McDonald said a student posted a photo of guns being cleaned after a day of shooting at a range with adults.聽
On Sunday, “A second student (took a screen shot of) the original picture and added a threatening message over the top of the picture and posted it to social media,” McDonald said.
After investigation by state police, it was determined the threat was not credible, he said.
The parent of a student who saw the altered post contacted administrators around 8:15 p.m. Sunday. School officials in turn called police, who questioned the student who made the initial posting. When authorities determined the post had been altered, McDonald said, they brought in the student who’d altered the photo.
That student is now facing terroristic threats and other charges, McDonald said, charged by Fayette County juvenile authorities.
McDonald said the student who altered the post told authorities that he or she believed it was funny, and hoped to cause trouble for the student who made the initial post by altering it.
The superintendent said the district delayed classes because they’d received multiple calls from parents who saw the post and were concerned, and because they wanted to release information about what was being done to address the matter to assuage fears.
“We did not want families who were made aware of the post on social media in the middle of the night to question sending their children to our schools today,” McDonald said in a recorded message to district parents. “We will always err on the side of caution in making sure our buildings are safe for our staff and students.”
He stressed that making such threats is not a joke and said police will continue to prosecute students who do so “to the fullest extent of the law.”
Since the Parkland, Florida, school shooting in February, police and districts across the region have had to contend with students making threats to harm their peers. Several students have been arrested and charged, including some who have been charged as adults because they were 18.