CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — Authorities say an 11-year-old and a 12-year-old are accused of making threats to several schools in our area. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said more than 40 schools in North Carolina received the threats after they were repeatedly shared on social media.
Investigators believe the two wanted to avoid going to school.
On Tuesday morning, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that they were made aware of a photo circulating social media of someone holding a gun and making threats toward schools.
“I saw a person holding a gun saying, ‘Crest Middle School Dragon get ready,’” said Karsin Evans, a student.
She was one of many who didn’t go to school Tuesday or left early. One student told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon there were only seven students Tuesday in a class of 23.
“I was fearing that person would come to school and shoot up either me or my close friends,” Evans said.
She is part of a generation at grew up with school shootings as a regular occurrence across the country. They still remember the one just last week in Georgia when a 14-year-old shot and killed two students and two teachers.
The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office said they were in communication with Cleveland County Schools and were actively investigating the incident. Additional deputies were also placed at school campuses in the area, according to deputies.
The Gaston County Police Department said they were also investigating the threats and deemed there was no active threat. Around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, GCPD said they identified and arrested an 11-year-old in the case. Police said the child admitted to posting the threats on social media.
The 11-year-old will be charged with multiple counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property.
Channel 9′s Ken Lemon also learned that the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office identified a 12-year-old accused of creating the first post before school started in the morning. They were able to use Instagram to track them to a physical address, which led them to discover the victim was a child.
Deputies said they interviewed the suspect and learned the threatening post on social media came from them and was shared. Investigators believe the 12-year-old made the threats to avoid going to school and didn’t plan any physical acts of violence.
“Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat. It was on all platforms,” said Shelby Middle School student Leila Goforth.
The 12-year-old will be processed by the Department of Juvenile Justice and will go through the juvenile court proceedings.
Neither child’s name will be released due to their ages.
Across the state
The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office told Lemon that they had been working on this case throughout Monday night. Channel 9 learned that the threats spanned across multiple counties and several schools were named as possible targets.
One mother on the way to Shelby Middle School told Lemon that the school called her about the threats. She said that led to her deciding to keep all five of her children out of school Tuesday.
“It’s really scary. I got kids that go to all the different schools,” Elise Hayes said. “You have what just happened in Georgia just the other week. It was literally my first thought. Like, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Chief Deputy Durwin Briscoe with the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was more than a prank — it was a serious threat.
“We are going to do whatever we can to assure that individual is brought to justice,” Briscoe said.
Union County Public Schools said they heard rumors that the threats were part of a TikTok challenge, but this has not been confirmed. School officials said they were working with law enforcement to investigate.
A spokesperson for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools said they work closely with law enforcement to assess each threat. They said all the threats made to more than 40 schools in the state were found not to be credible.
“Unfortunately, when acts of school violence occur, in the days and weeks afterwards, school districts, including Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, receive an increase in the number of threat reports. It’s difficult to determine if these are from TikTok or other social media platforms,” the statement from CMS reads. “While we have seen an increase in reports, we have our own dedicated Police Department that works closely with local law enforcement agencies to assess each of these reports. Today, law enforcement stated that over 40 schools in North Carolina received threats and all have been determined to not be credible.”
CMS listed their preventative safety measures, which include security scanners and their “Say Something” app.
In Kannapolis, school officials said Royal Oaks STEAM Academy received a bomb threat. Students were evacuated as a precaution and were allowed to return to the school after a thorough search, the district said.
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