FBI relays social media threat to district officials, investigation ongoing
A News12 cameraman sets up outside East Northport Middle School where, earlier in the day, a student was removed from class for making a threat against the school on SnapChat.
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Updated Thursday, January 18: According to a News12 report, a 13-year-old ENMS student was arrested and charged for making a threat of mass harm. She was later released to her family and will appear in family court on a later date. Police said the threat has been determined to be non-credible.
District administration is working alongside law enforcement in the investigation of an issue at East Northport Middle School (ENMS) earlier today, school officials told the Journal.
In an email to district parents at approximately 3:30pm, Superintendent of Schools Dave Moyer said the district was alerted by officers from the FBI that an individual had made a threat against the school via the social media platform Snapchat.
It was later determined that the individual was an ENMS student.
“The FBI monitors for such threats and intercepts them, allowing them to take immediate action,” the email read. “We promptly located the individual in question and removed them from the classroom.”
The email, almost identical in content to an earlier email sent out by ENMS Principal Pasquale DeStefano, continued: “Most importantly, all students and staff are safe and there were no weapons located on the campus. We will work collaboratively with the police to investigate this matter and action will be taken according to the Code of Conduct and as needed by law reenforcement.”
Regarding the Code of Conduct, school officials directed the Journal to section VI, “Prohibited Student Conduct,” where various violations that fall within the threat category are listed, as well as Section VII of the code for a list of possible consequences, including long-term suspension.
“Please note that due to student privacy concerns, we are not able to share further details; however please know that repercussions for these actions are extremely serious,” the email concludes.
When questioned about the incident, district officials told the Journal that district administration followed the recommended actions of the Suffolk County Police Department and the FBI, and confirmed there was no lockdown at the middle school while the student in question was removed from the classroom.
“We are not able to comment further on specifics,” officials said.
Both Moyer and DeStefano encouraged parents to speak with their children about the consequences of actions such as the one identified today and the importance of speaking up with concerns regarding safety.
