Another week of school threats, parents surrender guns to police

SCHENECTADY, WARREN, & MONTGOMERY COUNTIES, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) -In Scotia, Schenectady, and Queensbury, minors allegedly posted threats toward school districts on social media. On TikTok, one said “I’m gonna shoot up your school,” while another on Snapchat said, “I’m shooting the school tomorrow.” All the threats were traced back to the kids’ homes.

“We go to the residence all the time to check and see if this individual has the ability to carry out this threat,” explained Sheriff Jeff Smith of Montgomery County.

Two of the kids who live in Schenectady County have parents who are gun owners. And those parents voluntarily gave up three firearms to the police. But when law enforcement finds guns and parents do not hand them over, they can apply for an extreme risk protection order to take them from their homes.

In another threat, this time in Fort Plain, a parent told police that her son also had made a threat online and was quickly apprehended at school. “I grew up in Montgomery County and I went to school here and we never had this. I believe it’s the social media platform and the way things are shared,” described Sheriff Smith.

The sheriff says to never share threats posted on social media and instead report them to police.
“By sharing it, it adds more fuel to the fire, it creates more panic and it makes it more difficult for us to find the origin.”

The charges these minors are facing range from misdemeanors to felonies. Law enforcement warns that these threats, whether they are pranks or jokes, have severe consequences.

Read the latest from NEWS10:

• Uncommon Grounds to open in Albany International Airport
• Trump says Ukraine’s people are ‘dead’
• Harris holds 8-point lead over Trump in Virginia: Poll
• New York court to hear Trump’s appeal of $454M civil fraud judgment
• Vance, Walz face potential game-changing moment with VP debate

NEWS10 is the Capital Region’s local news leader!

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NEWS10 ABC.