Big Lake Schools the latest to fall victim to false social media threats

Since the start of the school year, multiple Minnesota schools have experienced shooting alerts as an alarming trend begins among students calling in or posting false threats online.

The Big Lake School District was the most recent victim on Friday, when a social media post allegedly threatened the safety of students in the district, sparking an investigation by the Sherburne County Sheriff's Office.

Police released a statement on Facebook Friday afternoon saying that after investigating with the help of the Big Lake Police Department, "no credible threats" were found to have been made against the Big Lake District.

Earlier this week, on Wednesday, a social media threat was shared with the Mankato Public School District that showed a screenshot from Snapchat referencing a potential school shooting.

After the threat was reported to Mankato police, another student shared a screenshot from Snapchat that referenced a gun in the Prairie Winds Middle School lunchroom.

Mankato Superintendent Paul Peterson sent a statement on Thursday to the school district's families, informing them that after an investigation, it was determined that both threats "were fabricated by students."

"These events serve as an important reminder for parents and caregivers to encourage responsible use of social media. Jokes about school violence are never acceptable," Peterson said.

"Making and/or sharing inappropriate content or threats on social media has serious consequences, including disciplinary actions from the school and/or legal consequences from law enforcement."

Just two weeks ago, a Becker County school decided to close on Sept. 20 due to a shooting threat made the day earlier.

The Becker County Sheriff's Office said it received a report of a possibly credible school shooting threat at 7:02 p.m. Thursday regarding the Pine Point School in Ponsford.

The school canceled classes out of an "abundance of caution" while police investigated the threat. After their investigation, officers arrested a 13-year-old girl on probable cause threats of violence but could not find any immediate danger to the school, staff, or students.

Note: The details provided in this story are based on law enforcement’s latest version of events, and may be subject to change.

Related: Girl, 13, arrested after threatening school shooting in Becker County