2 juveniles charged with felonies for allegedly making school shooting threats
A 14-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy from Northwest Indiana are facing charges, accused of making threats about school shootings this week.
The Lake County Sheriff's Department said a police officer on Sunday was made aware of a girl, 14, from Gary, Indiana, who reportedly posted a threatening comment to a TikTok video.
During an investigation, the suspect told police she was viewing a video on TikTok and posted a comment about shooting at a school, but couldn't remember the exact statement and that it did not mention a specific school or student. Relatives of the girl confirmed that she had told them about the comment.
The officer also learned that the FBI had been investigating the incident. They found the account where the post was made and tracked it to a phone at a Gary address.
The account originally displaying the comment has since been banned by TikTok, the department said.
The girl was placed into custody at the Lake County Juvenile Center and was charged with felony intimidation.
The next day, on Monday, an officer was dispatched to a school in Lowell for a report of a threat of a school shooting that had been made on a school bus around 3:15 p.m.
School administration provided surveillance video from a school bus in which a boy, 11, from Hebron, Ind., can be heard saying, "ABCD shoot up the school." The bus driver can also be heard notifying the student who made the remark that he was on camera, to which the student waved at the camera.
When officers located the boy and asked him about the comment, he told them that he said, "ABCD Glock 19 shoot up the school. Act like a fool," the department said.
The boy stated that it was a joke and that he had made a rhyme. He said that he didn't think what he said was serious. He then mentioned that he had recently watched a TikTok video about people making threats against schools.
He was also charged with felony intimidation filed with the Lake County Juvenile Prosecutor's Office.
"As sheriff of Lake County, I take all threats of violence very seriously. Anyone suspected of engaging in this illegal behavior, regardless of whether the threat is determined to be real, will face serious legal consequences," Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said. "Please understand, these threats are not funny. They're criminal and they will be treated as such regardless of the age of those responsible."
No further information will be released due to the ongoing investigations, the department said.