Kid ‘joking around’ allegedly lodges threat against school, traced to Mount Carmel

MOUNT CARMEL – A juvenile may face charges related to a threat saying they would be “shooting up a school tomorrow.”

According to the Mount Carmel Area School District, the juvenile sent a social media message saying such. District officials were unclear as to what social media platform the message was sent using, mentioning both Snapchat and TikTok, two wholly separate platforms.

The message, officials said, was intercepted by the FBI and an IP address traced to a juvenile that lives within the Mount Carmel Area School District.

“This juvenile does not attend Mount Carmel Area School District in person,” the district said, noting that he attends an outside district cyber school.

The threat was not lodged against a specific school, though some Mount Carmel Area students, officials said, “may have received this message via their social media.”

Local police visited the juvenile and his parents. He claimed “he was only joking around,” the district said.

“As always, school safety of students and staff is our top priority,” the district said in a statement. “Please speak to your child about the importance of not making threats both in school and on social media. Please check your child’s social media accounts often.”

“Just like you don’t get on an airplane and yell ‘bomb’ or enter a movie theater and yell ‘fire,’ students can’t make threats to our school or to any staff member,” the district adds. “‘Joking around’ will never be tolerated as a student excuse.”

The district, they said, “will fully support charges against this individual.”

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