Teenager arrested after FBI investigation, Valley schools respond to viral "SHS" threat
Several Valley school districts are among those around the country responding to a threat that has gone viral on social media from North Carolina to Oregon.
A Clark County teenager is facing charges after a vague online threat had schools around the Valley, and the nation, on high alert Thursday morning.
Several Valley school districts, as well as the Cleveland office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are among those around the country who responded to a threat that has gone viral on social media from North Carolina to Oregon.
The FBI Office in Cleveland told 21 News that they were aware of a social media post in which an unspecified threat appears to identify an "SHS" as a target to a potential school shooting.
The Clark County Sheriff's Office now says a 17-year-old is facing charges after an investigation led them to the alleged poster of the threat.
Officials now say that the threat was directed toward Springfield School District in Springfield, Ohio- about 45 miles west of Columbus.
But before that information was known, several schools in Mahoning, Columbiana, Lawrence, and Mercer Counties were on high alert- just in case.
"Every single threat, even as vague as this Facebook post was, needs to be taken seriously," said Struthers superintendent Pete Pirone.
Salem school officials said that the police department had officers at schools throughout the day following the post.
The Shenango Township Police Department in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania also addressed the threat on its Facebook page saying the threat has been circulating since Monday and originated from a Facebook profile of “Ray Andres".
Although the Shenango Township Police Department said its investigation has determined that there are no threats to students, they also increased patrols and police presence around the local schools.
The Sharon Police Department said in a media release that it confirmed that the Sharon City School District is not the subject of the post.
Salem Schools Superintendent Joe Shivers said police and the school district's technology team were working with Facebook to trace the source of the threat which was passed on to police by concerned citizens.
“This is not a credible threat to the students and staff of Salem High School,” Shivers said. “Nevertheless, the Salem Police Department will have officers at the high school throughout the day.”
Vicki Anderson, a spokeswoman for the FBI, said earlier Thursday morning that they were working with local departments to determine where the threat was made and where it was directed at.
Anderson said that threats like these are always examined thoroughly.
"We will hold someone accountable," she said. "Whether it was a legitimate school threat or a hoax, we will look to hold them accountable."
Anderson went on to say that since the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Fl. last Wednesday the agency has seen an increase in threats.
According to Anderson, the FBI works with local departments to investigate every threat that could involve a school. SHe said that increases of non-credible threats, or hoaxes take away resources from the local departments and from the FBI."
"It depends on the threat, is this person easily identifiable? If there's more investigation into location and finding the real identity then there's additional resources," Anderson explained.
The advent of social media is bringing more and more threats to light, according to Anderson. She said that the majority of recent threats have been things that have been posted or commented on through the internet.
Which can be an important tool in stopping tragedies before they happen.
"With the majority of these school shootings that have actually happened," said Anderson, "something was said before it happened- something was posted."
However, social media threats create additional investigative hurdles- such as the ability to use aliases or attempt to hide the poster's real location.
Anderson says that's why they examine every post or threat as if it's credible- because brushing it off, or ignoring it as just another social media post could have disastrous consequences.
With the FBI investigation comes another aspect of prosecution. Anderson that in every case the work with local agencies to find the person and hold them accountable- which frequently involves criminal charges.
Anderson said they take several factors into consideration when prosecuting those who make threats that cause panic and alarm. While generally threats are prosecuted locally, Anderson said there is the possibility of filing federal charges such as crimes related to interstate communication, since the internet is being used to spread the threat.
