An arrest has been made after 12 schools were involved in a social media threat a week ago, Phoenix police said.
On Sept. 12, Phoenix officers learned of a threat of a mass shooting made on a social media platform that involved 12 Valley schools, according to a release.
“Once the initial response was completed and the involved schools, students and school staff were contacted and made safe, detectives were made aware of the threat,” the release stated.
“Due to this threat, and other potential factors, the schools involved had approximately 6,000 student absences in the days following the threat.”
Detectives found the teenage suspect believed to have initiated the threat, police stated in the release. The suspect was interviewed on Sept. 19 and admitted to his involvement, stating the threat “was made after a dare by a peer group.”
The teen was booked on multiple felony charges, including terroristic threats and computer tampering.
Phoenix police said threats such as the recent one should not be reposted as it “complicates the totality of a criminal investigation and can cause misinformation to be spread throughout social media.”