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Police continue investigation of threats at multiple St. Lawrence County schools

Posted 1/31/18

Vague threats that began on social media continue to disrupt learning at several local schools as police investigate incidents at four districts. The most recently impacted schools were at Ogdensburg …

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Police continue investigation of threats at multiple St. Lawrence County schools

Posted

Vague threats that began on social media continue to disrupt learning at several local schools as police investigate incidents at four districts.

The most recently impacted schools were at Ogdensburg and Norwood-Norfolk. According to Assistant Superintendent Kevin Kendall Ogdensburg police investigated the alleged threat and found "no credible, imminent or specific threat to students or district personnel."

At NNCS the school was temporary locked down in the wake of a threat that was determined to be unfounded.

Messages being sent from various social media accounts have caused problems for at least four school districts in St. Lawrence County, but police say the threats do not appear to be credible.

“Currently we are investigating two of these reports of threatened school violence. We address these types of investigations as if the threat is real and imminent, utilizing all of the resources we have available, until we can definitively prove otherwise,” a state police spokeswoman said. “We are committed to preserving the safety of the schools and communities within our Troop. We routinely invest much of our attention into the school districts to ensure the safety of the students, faculty and surrounding community.”

Schools impacted by recent threats include Ogdensburg Free Academy, Canton Central School, Lisbon Central School and Norwood-Norfolk Central School.

The first scare stemmed from a social media message first reported at Lisbon Central School that included first names and mentioned “a game” but did not include a direct threat to students or the school. A similar message was also circulating at Ogdensburg Free Academy.

On Tuesday a Canton high school student was removed from school grounds. Canton police were called in to investigate allegedly threatening remarks made by the student.

On Wednesday Norwood-Norfolk Central was briefly locked down after a potentially threatening message was found written in a high school bathroom.

While the messages have caused some panic in all instances none of the potentially threatening messages appear to be credible.

Investigations from local and state law enforcement agencies will continue alongside of increased police presence at the districts.