A 17-year-old Murfreesboro student was arrested and charged with two felony counts of making false reports Thursday after publishing threatening posts on social media.
An Instagram post surfaced Thursday afternoon and threatened to “kill these people at Riverdale High School.” The post specified that the crime would occur at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The author of the post also wrote, “I’m serious be prepared @1:30 I promise Riverdale will make the news tomorrow !!!!!”
The post was eventually deleted, and a similar post from a different account was posted, which read, “It worked!! You thought it just one person it’s 5 of us and don’t worry everything is set to plan tomorrow at school so be prepared say your last byes to your loved ones.” The second post went on to specify, once again, that the crime would occur at 1:30 p.m. and that the school would “make the news.”
According to a press release from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, Rutherford County Schools, student resource officers and detectives learned about the post after it went viral Thursday and worked together to identify the student.
“Through posts, we were able to track down the location where the post was made,” said Brad Anderson, a school resource officer, in the press release. “We visited the home and located the juvenile.”
The press release states that Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Detective Will Pinson charged the student, who was then transported to the Rutherford County Juvenile Detention Center. The juvenile will now need someone like these philadelphia criminal lawyers to help get a lesser charge considering this is the first time he’s been arrested.
“We want parents to know we are committed to the safety of the children, along with the teachers and staff,” Anderson said in the press release. “We don’t take these threats lightly.”
According to James Evans, the communications and community relations coordinator for Rutherford County Schools, the student who published the social media posts admitted to making threats as an “inappropriate prank.”
Riverdale High School will be open tomorrow and proceed with its normal schedule.
To contact news Editor Caleb Revill, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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