BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A post on social media is concerning local school officials.
The post, appearing to be from Snapchat has been copy and pasted all over Facebook and other social sites saying, “I’m tired of being bullied. I’m tired of being harassed. Tomorrow at 10:30am I’m gonna release gunfire at any students I see.”
Local school superintendent’s say they’ve seen the post, and in some cases the perpetrator inserts the name of the school after “10:30 am.”
In Ken-Ton and the Town of Tonawanda, the Ken-Ton School District says, “A Snapchat message containing a non-specific school threat has been circulating through numerous districts locally and in other states. This threat has been investigated and found to not be credible."
It’s still cause for concern for many.
“You can’t let your guard down,” said Niagara Falls School Superintendent Mark Laurie.
Laurie says his district has been aware of this threat and others, and although the threat wasn’t directed at Niagara Falls the district took a heightened approach.
“Everyone was aware. Our school resource officers were alerted,” he said.
Dr. Amy Klinger is with the Educator’s School Safety Network. She and her team have conducted studies since 2013 on threats and school violence and say more than a third close to 40% of all threats come from social media.
“Because it’s anonymous kids think that you can’t get caught,” she said. “It’s so widespread and gets shared so easily.”
That’s why she says it’s important school superintendents get out in front of these threats, educating students about the uses of social media.
