Arrest made in new social media threats to Carmel middle school
The Putnam County Sheriff's Department announced Thursday morning it made an arrest after new social media threats were made against George Fischer Middle School in Carmel, leading to a two-hour delay this morning.
A screengrab of an exchange over Snapchat shared with The Journal News/lohud showed a Snapchat account called "GFMS" − with two guns next to its name − messaging a student "Hello! Would you like to be a part of a GFMS mass shooting?" One parent said on social media that students received friend requests from the account.
An email sent to the school community just after 8:30 a.m. Thursday, signed by Superintendent Mary-Margaret Zehr and Principal John Piscitella, said the district notified the sheriff's department early Thursday morning after the threats circulated on social media overnight.
"The Sheriff’s Department was made aware of the threat overnight when a citizen contacted their offices," the email said.
The email said the sheriff's department notified the district that "the student who made the statement has been apprehended and is being processed according to the law," but the student would also "be dealt with in accordance with the School’s Code of Conduct."
Because of FERPA, the Family Educational Right Privacy Act, the district can't share information about any students involved or the discipline they face, the email said.
Putnam Sheriff Kevin McConville could not immediately be reached for comment, but the department posted on Facebook Thursday morning it had made an arrest and was providing additional deputies to the middle school Thursday.
The sheriff's Facebook post Thursday said there was "no danger or remaining threat to the safety of students and faculty at the school."
Neither the sheriff's Facebook post nor the district's emails to families said whether the student arrested was connected to the threatening videos posted to TikTok last month. The district and sheriff's department faced staunch criticism over their response to the TikTok videos, which threatened violence against students of color.
More:TikTok videos threatening Black students have Carmel parents on edge, district promising change
More:Inside the handling of threatening TikTok videos in Carmel: Why no charges, few details?
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The district emailed parents at 6:50 a.m. Thursday saying: "Early this morning, the district was made aware of a report of a threatening statement directed at George Fischer Middle School circulating on a social media app overnight. We immediately contacted law enforcement this morning, beginning with the School Resource Officer (SRO), to conduct a threat assessment and determine what actions were needed to safeguard our students and staff."
The two-hour delay was to allow the Putnam County Sheriff's Department to continue its investigation, the email said.
Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Social media threat of mass shooting spurs delay at Carmel NY school
