Disturbing Social Media Posts Advise Students All Over Country To Stay Home From School On Friday
FAIR LAWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Law enforcement agencies around the country are tracking threats on social media, related to potential school violence on Friday.
CBS2's Ali Bauman has the details.
Eerie videos are making the rounds on social media, threatening students around the country not to go to school on Friday.
"Every time a repost goes, it goes from town to town, it goes from state to state, so we don't know where the origin starts," Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.
Nassau County is one of many police departments in the Tri-State Area monitoring the threats, which they essentially describe as clickbait.
"You get more points, more hits when you do a post. These kids are pushing it out and they have no idea what they're getting themselves into when they do this," Ryder said.
A U.S. law enforcement official told CBS News there is no known credibility to the threats, but school districts all around the greater New York City area are stepping up patrols and sending letters home to reassure parents.
The Fair Lawn School District in New Jersey assured parents, "There is no specific threat."
While the Ridgewood's schools superintendent wrote, "Messages such as this one are often posted to cause confusion and increase anxiety."
In the Westchester County town of Scarsdale's schools superintendent told parents the posts, "are believed to have originated from outside the United States."
I just spoke with @NewJerseyOAG Andrew Bruck, @NJSP Colonel Pat Callahan, and @NJOHSP Acting Director Laurie Doran regarding the viral social media school threats.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 16, 2021
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted, in part, "We will work closely with law enforcement to monitor the situation and remain prepared."
"They're generally, as I said, non-events. However, there is always the possibility someone who has been thinking about perpetrating an incident like this may use that cue as a trigger towards violence," said David Katz, CEO of Global Security Group Inc.
Katz said schools should always have an active shooter plan and be checking in on potentially violent students.
"So would you advise a parent to keep their child home from school tomorrow?" Bauman asked.
"No, I would not," Katz said. "The specific threats have to be taken very, very seriously. General threats, assess your individual school."
Law enforcement officials said while the threats are not credible, they do take officers away from dealing with real emergencies.