A recent anonymous TikTok “challenge” and other viral social media posts threatening shooting and booming Friday, December 17 for every school across the USA prompted security authorities and school officials to step up security measures.
The vague and anonymous TikTok posts circulating online warned that schools across the country would receive shooting and bomb threats Friday, December 17. The posts also encourage students to stay home.
It’s unclear where the TikTok school threat on Dec. 17 emerged.
Authorities in cities across the country have said they’ve received no evidence that the threats are credible, but school officials are taking heightened safety measures as a precaution.
Baltimore County Public Schools said in a Twitter post that officials have investigated the threat and “determined that it originated in Arizona and is not credible.”
School officials and police departments across the country, including Utah, Virginia, and Washington D.C., said they are aware of the threat.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy tweeted: “There are no known specific threats against New Jersey schools.”
Notifications went out to parents describing a troubling viral post that warned of threats of multiple school shootings nationwide Friday.
Chicago Public Schools told parents in an alert, “The post is vague and not directed at a specific school, and is circulating around school districts across the country,” adding, “Please do not re-share any suspicious or concerning posts on social media.”
Several suburban school districts sent similar warnings.
The FBI said in a statement to media outlets that it “takes all potential threats seriously and we regularly work with our law enforcement partners to determine the credibility of any threats.”
Authorities in several cities have warned that students could be disciplined or prosecuted for making threats.
Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization founded by families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook school shooting of 2012, tweeted:
“A national TikTok challenge promotes school shootings on December 17. Gun violence is not a subject for jokes or pranks.”
In a statement on Twitter, TikTok said it is working with law enforcement to look into the warnings with “utmost seriousness”, nonetheless.
TikTok said it has not identified any videos making specific threats.
“We have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok,” the company added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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