Four students charged in Trinity Middle School threats
Four Trinity Area School District students are accused of posting messages and photos on social media threatening violence at the middle school.
The posts, which were uploaded to the photo-sharing site Instagram, included images of guns and drugs, as well as pictures of a student and teacher at Trinity Middle School with implied threats in the captions. State police Trooper Matthew Jardine said the four boys, whose identities were not released, were charged with terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and unlawful use of a communication device.
The boys were in the custody of the Washington County juvenile probation office late Monday afternoon and awaiting placement in a juvenile detention facility, Jardine said.
Although the suspects were identified Monday morning, school administrators still took precautions and ramped up police coverage at all schools in the district and surrounding areas. North Franklin police Sgt. Jerry Cavanaugh said the township department, which assisted in the investigation, first became aware of the threats Sunday evening when a parent notified police about the Instagram account.
The anonymous Instagram page called itself a “secret Trinity area school organization.” One image posted Sunday night shows a boy wearing a horse mask and holding a rifle, with the poster threatening to take action Monday at Trinity Middle School.
Some parents took to social media to decry the threats, and some stated they would not permit their children to attend school Monday. Kimberly Robertson Crouse, whose daughter is a student at Trinity High School, said she dropped her daughter off at school Monday morning but immediately turned around to pick her up once she heard about the threats.
“When it comes to our children and the way this country is anymore, I’m not taking any risks,” she said.
Denise Doman Beck, whose daughter is an elementary school student, said she kept her daughter home Monday for similar reasons.
“I wasn’t taking a chance with the way the world is,” she said. “All the (police) action would be at the middle school, and no one watching for activity around the area – rather be safe than sorry.”
Kevin Emerick has three children in district schools, one at Trinity Middle School. Two of his children stayed home, and he picked up his middle school student early. He said although it appears police have identified those believed responsible, he is unsure if he will send them to school today – just to be safe.
“My thinking was, you never can tell,” he said.
Cavanaugh said many parents took similar measures. He said although police believed the school was safe Monday morning, police respected parents’ choices to remove their children from school or prevent them from attending.
“By all means, do what’s best for your family,” he said.
Cavanaugh said state police took over the investigation Monday morning because they have a sophisticated cyber crimes division.
School district administrators did not return calls seeking comment.
Staff writer Mike Jones contributed to this story.