GOUVERNEUR -- Police say the two students identified as persons of interest in a threat made at Gouverneur Central School may face criminal charges.

“I will not know whether any arrests will be made until we complete the investigation,” Chief Laurina Greenhill said in an email on Friday afternoon. “We have persons of interest and the investigation will reveal whether there is evidence to support an arrest or not. That's all I can say for now.”

On Thursday, the school was evacuated after being placed in lockdown due to a threat discovered written in a boys bathroom.

The two students, who have not been identified, were taken into custody as persons of interest and were later released to their parents without being charged, Gouverneur police said in a news release.

At around 7:25 a.m. Thursday, a Gouverneur police officer was at Gouverneur High School speaking with a staff member about an unrelated matter and was approached by a student, who reported finding a handwritten threat in a boys' bathroom, the release said.

"Several messages of a threatening nature were found written on the wall of a boys' bathroom. School officials took immediate action," the release says.

Police say a search of the building turned up no weapons, and "additional measures and interviews determined no evidence of a credible threat."

Gouverneur PD were assisted by New York State Police, the troopers' Canine Unit and the St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office.