MILTON – The Milton Area School District says it has identified and apprehended a middle school student responsible for a gun threat that forced the district to close its buildings Thursday, and that student is in police custody.
Superintendent Dr. John Bickhart said in an update to district families Thursday afternoon, the middle school student created a false social media count impersonating another Milton area student.
With that account, the student responsible for creating the fake account threatened to bring a gun to school. But the district and Milton police say there is no threat to the public and are confident the student ‘acted alone’ in the threat.
Dr. Bickhart says Milton officers have apprehended and are in the process of filing juvenile charges against the student responsible.
He says investigators were able to gather multiple sources of information from the Safe2Say Something Tipline and several students from the district. The district says its offering full counseling services to all of its students and encourages all students and parents to continue to share information on the Safe2Say Something Tipline.
See Dr. Bickhart’s full statement below:
Dear Milton Families,
The Milton Area School District in collaboration with the Milton Police Department and other law enforcement agencies have gathered multiple sources of information regarding the threat of violence in our schools. Utilizing information from the Safe2Say Something Tipline and several students from the district, investigators have been able to identify the person responsible for making threats of violence at the Milton Area School District.
Investigators tell district officials that a Middle School student created a false Social Media account, impersonating another Milton Area student. With that fake Social Media account, the student
responsible for creating that fake account, threatened to bring a gun to school.
With the aide of Cyber Forensics, Milton Police have identified the student responsible and have
confirmed there is no longer a threat to students or the community. Investigators are confident the
student acted alone in this threat.
Within the last 45 minutes, Milton Police have apprehended and are in the process of filing juvenile
charges against the student responsible for creating the fake social media account.
The Milton Area School District is offering full counseling services to all of its students and
encourages all students and parents to continue to share information on the Safe2Say Something
Tipline. Resources like the tip line and open conversation with school district leaders will help to
ensure our students and staff are safe and secure while on our campus.
Milton Area Schools will resume learning in classes tomorrow as normally scheduled. There will be
an increased police presence across all of our campuses. The safety and security of our students
and staff will always be our number one priority.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Bickhart and Chief Curt Zettlemoyer
