FBI called to help assess threats
Several school districts closed today over dire warnings
Oakland County has asked the FBI and U.S. Secret Service to help investigate hundreds of threats that have led to dozens of school closures on Thursday and today affecting thousands of students.
The wave of threats shared on social media follows Tuesday’s shooting at Oxford High School, where four students were killed and seven others injured. Ethan Crumbley, a 15-yearold sophomore at the school, has been charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder and terrorism along with other felony gun charges. He is being held at the Oakland County jail.
Schools were closed in Rochester, Southfield, Lake Orion, Troy, Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfield, Waterford, Walled Lake, Auburn Hills, Clarkston, Huron Valley, Armada, Warren, and Holly. Most of the districts also canceled afternoon and evening activities. Oxford Community Schools had already announced Tuesday night its buildings would be closed all week.
Timothy Waters, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, said Thursday about 40 people are working 24-7 to track down threats. So far, 25 threats are being investigated, he said.
“There’s a lot of people who are concerned and they have every right to be,” Waters
said.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said they have received hundreds of threats, adding that law enforcement continues to investigate and address false information that continues to circulate via social media.
“It costs a great deal of resources to run these down, to tell people time and time again this information is false,” Bouchard said.
Previous threats or incidents are being recirculated and shared that have nothing to do with the Oxford shooting or the suspect, Bouchard said, saying that those circulating such information “are inflaming the anxiety and fear of the situation and response.”
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said her office will not hesitate to prosecute those making the threats and that if convicted of the felony charge could face 20 years in prison.
“This is a scary time,” McDonald said. “The best thing we can do as parents is talk to our children about the seriousness of (sharing or making threats online).”
Bouchard said 99 times out of 100 hundred students will hear or see things first, adding that not one threat circulating so far on social media has been credible.
Oakland County Executive David Coulter said threats are further harming a learning environment already negatively affected by the pandemic. He said officials would not encourage kids to be in schools if they weren’t safe, adding that social and learning losses from not being in the classroom “is too great.”
“(Those circulating threats are) interfering with the basic education of our children, and we just can’t have that,” Coulter said.
Officials reported at least 60 school closures for Thursday and Friday.
Kerry Birmingham, director of communications for the Troy School District, said having open lines of communication with students and families “is vital to keeping everyone safe.”
“However, it’s equally important to remind your students not to spread unsubstantiated rumors on social media,” Birmingham said. “The actions of a few have created a terrifying situation for others. Please encourage your students to tell an adult (a parent, teacher, principal), rather than spreading rumors online.”
“The Holly Police Department and Holly Schools administration have been receiving and jointly investigating numerous reports of threats on various social media platforms that ‘someone is going to shoot up Holly Schools,’” Holly police posted Thursday on Facebook. “We have received dozens of screen shots of Holly School students sharing various screen shots of a report that ‘someone heard someone say’….. We have spoken to numerous students who have shared these posts; however, no one can identify the original source of the threat.”
“Parents: Please assist us by advising students to stop posting and sharing these messages.”