Michigan authorities said a 13-year-old has been charged with a felony after he allegedly threatened a local middle school in the wake of the deadly shooting at a school in Oxford Township, a Detroit suburb.
Police in Waterford Township said they received reports of threat on social media Thursday that stated "Mason better watch out," referring to Mason Middle School, WDIV reported. The post also included an image of a firearm.
Police say that a 13-year-old Mason Middle School student, who has not been identified, is allegedly behind the threat, and that he admitted to posting it when interviewed by investigators.
The teenager was charged with knowingly making a false report of terrorism, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
"All threats are taken seriously, and we will continue to investigate each and every one," Waterford Township Police Chief Scott Underwood said, per the news station.
"We will use all available investigative tactics and resources, arrest those responsible, and seek to charge them to the fullest extent possible."
Newsweek reached out to police in Waterford Township for more information about the arrest but did not hear back in time for publication on Saturday morning.
Schools around the country are contending with threats in the wake of the shooting at Oxford High School that left four students dead and several others injured.
A Newsweek analysis on Friday found that more than 519 schools around the U.S. have closed due to threats, including hundreds of schools in Michigan.
State police in Michigan said Friday that a student in the village of Armada admitted to making a threat against schools because he wanted a day off from classes.
In Georgia, a principal received an anonymous email that read: "This is a warning that I am plan to shoot the whole entire school up tomorrow I already have my plan figured out but see you and the dead students tomorrow." The threat prompted officials to cancel classes on Friday.
Police in Miami Township, Ohio, said Friday that they had arrested a student who allegedly created a "kill list" of fellow students three days after the Oxford Township shooting. A local prosecutor is reviewing the case.
"We cannot ever assume that a threat is a joke, and again, we take them all very seriously," Milford Junior High School Principal Misty Goetz told families in Ohio.
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Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more
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