Threats at numerous North Carolina schools Thursday found ‘not credible’

CHARLOTTE — Numerous threats to schools in several cities across North Carolina turned out to be hoaxes, officials confirmed to Channel 9 on Thursday.

In Charlotte, there were prank calls about people being shot at four different schools: Olympic High School, Mallard Creek High School, West Charlotte High School, and Northwest School of the Arts. A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spokesperson told Channel 9 that law enforcement officers began investigating and found the threats weren’t credible.

At the same time, similar threats were reported at schools throughout North Carolina, including Wilkesboro, Brevard, Fayetteville, Durham, New Bern, and more, according to WRAL, along with sheriff’s offices and police departments.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s office told Channel 9 in a statement that they were aware of the threats Thursday morning.

“State public safety officials take threats against schools seriously and are working to investigate and keep students and staff across the state safe,” a spokesperson for Cooper said.

This comes in the same week that a rash of threats in Georgia prompted a response from Gov. Brian Kemp, who said that the FBI would be investigating those threats.

“Rest assured, for the criminals who orchestrated these hoaxes, we will go after them with every single resource available,” Kemp said in a statement obtained by our partners at WSB in Atlanta. “The FBI is actively investigating these acts of domestic terrorism, and we will continue to diligently work with them to see these culprits are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Earlier this year, a string of threats were reported at schools in the Charlotte area, and in South Carolina. Several students were charged in connection with those separate threats, police told Channel 9.

Authorities say calling in a false report of a threat can result in serious consequences, including criminal charges.

“If you are a juvenile and you have committed this type of offense, and law enforcement responds to your house, we have to ensure that you do not have access to weapons. We have to ensure you do not have access to bomb-making material. That means we are going to go through your house. We are going to search your house and we are going to look for those things that you had at home, that you felt were private, are going to be searched because we have to be sure there is nothing that can be used against the public,” said Deputy Chief Jimmy Hughes with the Concord Police Department. “We are going to figure out who you are, (you are) going to be charged in this case through the juvenile justice system. And once you’re charged, you are going to go to court and you are going to face your court date, and then once you’re convicted, you are going to receive whatever the punishment is that is deemed by that judge.”

No suspects have been identified yet in connection with Thursday’s threats.

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