Hilliard police charge second teen in connection with threats to Hilliard Davidson
Hilliard police have charged a second teenage student at Hilliard Davidson High School on Jan. 9 in connection with posting threatening messages on social media.
A 15-year-old girl has been charged with inducing panic, a second-degree felony, and making terroristic threats, a third-degree felony. A boy, also 15, was charged with inducing panic, a second-degree felony, according to Hilliard police.
Both are Davidson students.
The girl admitted to creating the post that specifically named Hilliard Davidson High School, in response to a threat notification the district had shared with families about 10:30 p.m. Jan. 8. The student then shared the post with multiple others, according to Hilliard police.
Police do not believe the two students were working together. A search was conducted on the residences of both students, and no firearms were found, police said.
Additional charges are possible, and the girl was transported to the Franklin County Juvenile Detention Center overnight Jan. 8-9, police said. The boy was charged later Jan. 9.
"There is no such thing as a joke when it comes to school safety. We want to remind parents to talk to their children about being responsible on social media," Hilliard police Chief Michael Woods said.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Jan. 8, Hilliard City School District officials began receiving information from concerned students and parents regarding an Instagram account with disturbing posts. The original screenshots reported did not reference Davidson High School or Hilliard City Schools but triggered concern because the account followed several Davidson accounts and Davidson students, according to a statement from Hilliard City Schools.
After learning of the incident, school administrators immediately contacted the Hilliard Division of Police, and a message was sent informing the school community of the situation. Minutes after the message was sent, another screenshot referring to Davidson specifically was reported. This prompted a new round of conversations with Hilliard police and school administrators as the police investigation evolved, district officials said.
The Hilliard Division of Police had an increased presence at Davidson on Jan. 9 after an investigation resulted in the identification of an individual responsible for making a threatening social media post.
According to an email sent at 10:30 p.m. Jan. 8 to those enrolled to receive it, Hilliard City Schools announced it was “aware of screenshots from a now-deleted Instagram account that has been seen my many in the Davidson community this evening.”
The post did not mention any particular school, but “out of an abundance of caution,” the district contacted the police, and an investigation was launched.
The email advised there is to be “a more significant police presence around Davidson (Jan. 9)," but expect Jan. 9 “to be a normal school day in our district.”
At 12:17 a.m. the same day, less than two hours later, the Hilliard Division of Police reported that investigators had “identified the individual responsible for making the posts and charges are pending.”
“We take every threat very seriously and want to ensure the safety of our school community,” Woods said. “Within hours of learning of the situation, officers identified the individual and made an arrest. While the investigation remains ongoing, I’m proud of our HPD team and our partnership with Hilliard schools for working urgently.”
“I want to thank everyone who saw these posts and immediately reported them,” said Superintendent David Stewart. “During an evolving situation like this, our first priority is to work with the police to ensure the safety of our students and staff. We are grateful the Hilliard police acted quickly and were able to make this arrest.”
Hilliard police and the school district thanked those who viewed the posts and immediately reported it, the email stated, reiterating “we continue to expect Monday to be a regular school day.”
This threat came nearly a week after Westerville City Schools addressed a similar situation.
In an email sent to Walnut Springs Middle School families and others enrolled to receive emails, principal Becca Yanni said, "At approximately 7:15 a.m. today (Jan. 4), we were notified by a parent that another student had posted a picture of a gun on social media with a caption that included, 'School is about to be wild...'"
District officials then notified law-enforcement officials, who immediately met and removed this student from their bus when it arrived at school that morning.
The student reportedly did not have any type of weapon in their possession, admitted to making the post and said it was meant as a prank, according to Yanni's email.
"We continue to work through this matter with the student’s family," she said.
"While there is no evidence that this individual ever intended to do harm to anyone, please know that they now face appropriate school discipline and the potential legal consequences resulting from their decision to post such content, even if meant as a prank."
Yanni commended those who brought this matter to the school's attention. As a result of those actions, district officials were quickly able to address and resolve this situation.
ThisWeek News Editor Emily Moore contributed to this story.
@ThisWeekCorvo
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Hilliard, Westerville districts work through threatening social media posts
