WATERTOWN, Conn. — The Watertown Police Department will have extra patrols at all schools Friday following a text message that indicated a possible threat of violence at a middle school.
Police said they had received several complaints regarding the text message that was seen on Snapchat, referencing a possible threat against Swift Middle School.
Through an investigation, police said they learned that a 12-year-old student wrote the text and sent it only to himself.
According to police, the student then showed the text to his mother as an alleged ploy to get out of going to school today. Police said the student's sibling then took a screenshot of that text and sent it out to friends over Snapchat.
Watertown police said no actual threat existed against the school or any others. Police said the incident poses no threat to a Watertown school, however, the department would be providing extra patrols at all the schools Friday.
The department also encouraged all parents to discuss with their children the seriousness of making threatening statements, whether in text, verbal, or otherwise. Police said the threats, whether a hoax or not, circulate on social media platforms quickly, causing concern and increasing anxiety.
This is just the latest incident of hoax threats made against Connecticut schools in recent weeks. Several students in multiple towns have been arrested for sending out similar threats, prompting massive police responses at schools.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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