Schools boost police presence due to TikTok threat rumors
“These threats are exhausting to people who are already exhausted. Every time we have to track down a threat, it eats away at that trust.”
Kate Dias, the president of the Connecticut Education Association
NORWALK — The city’s public schools are reporting no connection to the rumors and threats targeting schools that were spreading on the social media site TikTok on Thursday.
“We are aware of the information about hoax threats that are circulating across the country today, but there has been no connection at this time to our schools,” said Brenda Wilcox Williams, chief of staff and communications for Norwalk Public Schools. “Out of an abundance of caution and to make sure that students and staff feel safe, we will have an increased security and NPD presence visible throughout the city tomorrow.”
Norwalk High School and P-TECH Norwalk were the victims of hoax threats earlier this month, causing the school building to be evacuated once due to a bomb threat and put on locktypically down twice due to gun threats within an eight-day period.
Norwalk police arrested a 14-year-old boy for allegedly making the threats. He faces nearly a dozen charges, including three charges of conspiracy due to an international conspirator connected to how the threats were made.
State Police said Thursday that troopers and the Department of Emergency Services are monitoring a recent trend of social media threats targeting schools. They said the Connecticut Intelligence Center, which is monitoring the trend, has not identified any specific or credible threats to any Connecticut schools.
State police said the posts begin on TikTok and have been spreading across several other social media sites in recent days. The agency said it’s possible the threats originated from a TikTok challenge to skip school on Friday.
“Any school threat that is made in Connecticut is immediately taken very seriously by law enforcement,” state police said. “If a threat is determined to be a hoax, there will be a thorough investigation and arrests will be made. This could also lead to further consequences within the
school district.”
TikTok released the following statement late Thursday afternoon: “We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we're working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok.”
Investigating these types of threats can “takes a lot of time,” said Kate Dias, the president of the Connecticut Education Association, who doesn’t believe the trend originated in Connecticut.
At the start of the school year, students returned timid and full of anxiety stemming from the pandemic. As students are attempting to settle into the school year, there have been threats across the state “reappearing over and over again,” Dias said.
“We’re spending a lot of time figuring out what is real and
what’s not,” Dias said.
The CEA president encourages anyone who sees something out of the ordinary to tell a school administrator. She’s also asking parents to have open and honest communication with their children about these sorts of threats and they make their kids feel.
The threats are disrupting the sense of community and safety at schools, Dias said.
“These threats are exhausting to people who are already exhausted,” she added. “Every time we have to track down a threat, it eats away at that trust.”
There have been multiple incidents statewide over the last several weeks, prompting police investigations, early dismissals and canceled school in some cases. Among the other places to see recent threats or incidents were Danbury, Hamden, New Haven, Trumbull and Ansonia.