Newark Police Arrest 3 Youths in School Social Media Threat

NEWARK — Officers arrested three 13-year-olds, two boys and a girl, for threatening violence against the schools through a social media post, police said on Thursday.

Police are seeking a fourth juvenile male in connection with the threat, according to Public Safety Director Fritz G. Fragé. The three youths each face charges of third-degree terroristic threats, fourth-degree cyber harassment, third-degree creating a false public alarm and disorderly person in the form of harassment, police said.

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“Although each suspect is quite young, this incident presents an opportunity for everyone — regardless of their age — to understand the severity of posting a violent threat online,” Fragé said. “We take every threat involving the safety of our schools, neighborhoods, and buildings very seriously and, as our detectives proved today, each suspect will be identified and apprehended.”

The threat prompted extra security at school buildings in Newark on Thursday. It follows a series of similar threats directed toward schools in New Jersey after the Sept. 4 mass shooting at a high school in Georgia.

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