PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Puyallup police arrested a 16-year-old girl Tuesday afternoon in connection with threats made over the internet, directed at Emerald Ridge High School.
Classes were canceled at Emerald Ridge High School and neighboring Glacier View Junior High on Tuesday while police investigated.
No other schools were involved in this threat.
Puyallup police said they were contacted at 3:55 a.m. by FBI staff in Washington, D.C, alerting them to a threat made on an internet public forum called Askfm.
The threat, believed to be posted at 1:55 PDT, was reported to authorities in Dublin, Ireland, who contacted the FBI.Government authorities determined that the IP address for the post came back to a person in Puyallup.
The threat read:
"I'M TIRED OF BEING CALLED A WHITE CRACKER (EMOJI) IF ANYBODY GOES TO EMERALD RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL IM SHOOTING YOU IM BLOWING UP THAT DUMB [expletive] SCHOOL WITH THEM RACIST KIDS AND DUMB RUDE TEACHERS (EMOJI) #[expletive]ERHS #PUYALLUPSCHOOL[expletive]"
Tuesday morning, Puyallup PD said officers with the Major Crimes Unit, along with FBI personnel, served a search warrant at a home in Puyallup. Potential items of evidence were recovered.
The 16-year-old was arrested at 3 p.m., and is being booked into Remann Hall for felony harassment and threats to bomb or injure.
Capt. Scott Engle of the Puyallup Police Department said the student had just begun attending Emerald Ridge High School this school year. He said she had not attended class often and had no interest in doing so.
There are no links to terrorism, and no further safety concerns with any PSD schools.
No other suspects are being sought in the case.
Engle said they did not find weapons in the apartment they searched, and police do not believe the student was capable of carrying out the threat.
Police said the classes were canceled "out of an abundance of caution."
Police said the threat has nothing to do with any alleged clown activity in the area and does not appear to have any links to terrorism.
The Puyallup School District superintendent said all classes would resume Wednesday.
Cox Media Group
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