Police Find That Man In North Carolina Threatened To 'Shoot Up School' In Howell District On Twitter
HOWELL (WWJ) - An online threat on social media directed at a school in Howell forced authorities to cancel classes for all students in the district Monday.
The threat to "shoot up school" was sent via Twitter.
The district posted on its website that Superintendent Erin MacGregor was notified by the Michigan State Police that a Howell High School student received a message that threatened to shoot up the school.
MacGregor later posted a message to update parents of students in the district of the evolving matter.
"As of this afternoon, the Michigan State Police, using the Computer Crimes Unit, identified the email and IP addresses connected to the Twitter account responsible for the threatening tweet and they confirmed it is an out-of-state IP address. A warrant was submitted to Google to obtain the personal information connected to the email address. As of 6:00 p.m., the Michigan State Police have identified the person who sent the threat. He lives in Lillington, North Carolina. The Michigan State Police are working with the North Carolina Highway Patrol and the Harnett County Sheriff's Department to bring this person into custody.
While the investigation is ongoing, we feel reassured with the events that have transpired today. In turn, we are planning to have students and staff return to school tomorrow. As a precaution, we will have additional law enforcement present at our schools throughout the day.
I would like to thank the Michigan State Police and the Howell Police Department for their support with this incident.
We will continue to update you on this situation."
Howell Police Chief George Basar says they take all threats seriously.
"That's not the kind of thing to joke about," said Basar. "You don't yell 'fire' in a theater - it's very much the same kind of situation. You put out a tweet like that and you'll get the full attention of law enforcement and you will suffer the consequences."
