A number of school districts in the US has canceled classes for today, December 17th, due to shooting and bomb threats supposedly circulating on TikTok and other social media channels. According to Bloomberg and The Verge, they include districts in Michigan, Washington, California, Texas, Minnesota and Missouri. The threats reportedly don’t mention specific schools, but school authorities across the country are on alert and have opted to work with law enforcement and ensure students’ safety.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tweeted that while “there are no known specific threats against New Jersey schools,” authorities “will work closely with law enforcement to monitor the situation and remain prepared.” In most cases, law enforcement agencies announced that they haven’t found evidence that the threats are real and credible. A county sheriff in Missouri said that they don’t think their schools are going to be attacked, but they want to be prepared just in case.
While the source of the threats remain unclear, California’s Gilroy Police Department determined that the post thought to involve Gilroy High School actually originated from outside of LA. Similarly, the Baltimore County Public Schools Twitter account posted that law enforcement agencies had discovered that the threats originated from Arizona and aren’t credible.
In response to the situation, TikTok issued a statement stating that it’s “working with law enforcement” to investigate the rumored threats. However, it denied any knowledge of the threats and said that it found no evidence that they originated or are spreading on the platform.
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