ROGERSVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — A 12-year-old in Hawkins County has been arrested after making threats to schools, according to Rogersville Director of Public Safety Travis Fields.
Rogersville City School and Hawkins County Schools were among several school districts in the Tri-Cities region that received threats over social media in the last few days.
SCSO: 12-year-old charged after alleged school threat Fields told News Channel 11 that the Rogersville Police Department began receiving calls about school threats around 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Police began looking into the matter and found social media posts involving pictures of weapons, Rogersville City School and county school, as well as threatening text.
Rogersville police and the Hawkins County Sheriff’s Office began working together to investigate the threats.
According to Fields, investigators secured a search warrant which was sent to TikTok, who provided police with an IP address. The internet provider was then able to provide investigators with the physical address associated with the IP address.
Roughly two hours after police were informed of the threat, Fields said investigators arrived at the home and took a 12-year-old suspect into custody. Fields said the juvenile appears to be the only suspect as of Friday afternoon.
Police: Juvenile charged with four counts of death threats at a school in Washington County, Va. The 12-year-old has been charged with threats of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity, a Class E felony.
The juvenile was transported to a detention center after the arrest and appeared in court for a hearing on Thursday. Fields said the juvenile is scheduled to appear for another hearing next week and remains in a juvenile detention facility.
The investigation into the threats is ongoing.
The Hawkins County juvenile arrest is one of at least four in the region after a series of threats were made on social media to local schools. A juvenile in Washington County, Virginia faces four counts of threats of death or serious injury at a school. A 12-year-old in Sullivan County was arrested Friday morning and faces the same charge as the one in Hawkins County. Elizabethton police announced Thursday night that a juvenile had also been charged for threats made against Happy Valley High School.
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