(Danville) — Danville Police have charged two students with making separate school threats.
On Monday, a School Resource Officer was made aware of a threat written in a restroom at George Washington High School. A picture showing the threat was spread on social media platforms, which led to other threats of possible violence intended to close school buildings.
Danville Police Chief Chris Wiles says they followed digital leads and interviewed persons of interest. “We satisfied ourselves that the threats were actually unfounded,” Wiles told Danville City Council. “But that does not change the fact that this generated fear and disrupted our schools.”
Police are charging a 16-year-old GW student with making threats of death or bodily injury to persons on school property. Detectives say the suspect was upset with school employees and there were no threats to students. They are being held on a juvenile retainer.
“The Danville Police Department treats ANY kind of threat, especially those directed at our schools, extremely seriously. And we put all of our resources into investigating those,” Wiles said.
Also, a 12-year-old Bonner Middle School student is charged with making threats to bomb or damage buildings. Investigators say the youth never intended to harm anyone but wanted to continue the trend of threats within the schools in hopes of having schools closed. He’s being held under a juvenile warrant.
“It is a felony to communicate a threat, whether you are joking about it or not. Whether its a hoax or you’re trying to get out of school, that does not make any difference,” Wiles added.
Because of their ages, the suspects’ names are not being released.
Meantime, a Tuesday morning threat to three Pittsylvania County middle schools was quickly deemed not credible.
Pittsylvania County School Superintendent Dr. Mark Jones says there was a potential threat posted on Snapchat. It mentioned Tunstall, Chatham and Gretna Middle Schools. All three buildings were quickly secured by locking all outside doors.
By early Tuesday afternoon, Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s investigators and School Resource Officers determined the threat was not credible. The source of the post is still unknown. The investigation continues.