Student Arrested for Making Online Threat Against School

Update October 4, 2016: In partnership with the Prince George’s County Public School system, detectives today arrested a second student for making online threats of mass violence against the school system. This suspect is an 8^th grader at Kenmoor Middle School in Landover – one of the schools mentioned in the threat. He’s linked to the sending of the original threat via social media on Saturday which prompted additional resources at several schools this week. The investigation has determined this threat was not credible and was intended only as a disruption. The student is charged with Threat of Mass Violence.

The Prince George’s County Police Department will continue to take seriously all threats against targets in this county and will work aggressively to arrest whoever is responsible for sending those threats.

Prince George's County Police Department Homeland Security Division detectives arrested a suspect in connection with a threat of mass violence to Parkdale High School in Riverdale. The suspect, a juvenile, is a student at the school.

The preliminary investigation reveals the suspect set up a Twitter account with a clown theme while in class. From this account, he threatened to harm anyone at Parkdale High School during the school day today. The suspect is charged with Threat of Mass Violence and other related charges.

Detectives also identified a student who made a bomb threat to Bladensburg High School over social media. Bladensburg High School officials are taking disciplinary action against this student.  Preliminarily, this threat does not appear credible.  Criminal charges in this case have not been placed pending additional investigation.

There are at the moment similar threats to schools which we are investigating.  Though arrests have not been made in these cases at this time, detectives, the Prince George's County Public School System, and FBI agents with the Baltimore Field Office have leads that they are actively pursuing. Please monitor our social media for any updates.

Detectives ask that anyone who see threats of violence on social media to please call police instead of immediately forwarding that post. This helps detectives trace the origin of the threat more quickly.  Detectives will continue to thoroughly investigate all threats of violence posted to social media.

"While perpetrators may believe certain apps provide anonymity, these investigations show otherwise," said Chief Hank Stawinski. 

Anyone with information about these cases is asked to call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), text "PGPD plus your message" to CRIMES (274637) on your cell phone or go to www.pgcrimesolvers.com and submit a tip online.