In the past week, there have been two local High Schools to take action against threatening violence on campus via Social Media Networks. Although these schools may not be in our districts, it should raise awareness through our communities and be an important discussion to have with our own children, should they come across a suspicious post.
Suffolk County Police arrested a 15 year old Mount Sinai Teen for threatening posts made on Yik Yak, the social media application. Parents and Students alerted high school Officials about the anonymous threat stating there would be a shooting and bombing at the school on September 16th to which police were immediately contacted. An investigation conducted by the Sixth Squad Detectives led to the arrest of a 15-year-old male student who was charged with Making a Terrorist Threat.
On September 18th, West Islip High School reported their second threat in a week which was posted on an undisclosed Social Network. Although K-9 units and Police found no evidence of the threat to be real, the school was locked down as a safety measure. An investigation is currently underway.