(WWJ) -- Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard says the FBI and Secret Service are assisting his department as they deal with a skyrocketing number of threats at schools in metro Detroit in the days following the deadly shooting at Oxford High School on Tuesday.
Bouchard said during a news briefing Thursday afternoon more than 60 schools across Oakland County and metro Detroit were closed due to so-called “copycat threats,” all of which were believed to be not credible.
Most schools are expected to remain closed on Friday and will reopen on Monday, Bouchard said.
Bouchard said they have dealt with “hundreds” of false threats in the days since the Oxford shooting, many of which have stemmed from false information and rumors re-circulating on social media.
Bouchard said communities across the country often see a rash of false threats in the wake of school shootings and the fake threats are often made for two reasons -- they think it's funny or they want to get out of school.
“I don’t know what is in people’s minds to think after a real tragedy it makes sense to make threats," Bouchard said. "And typically, we see it fall into two buckets: one is, they think it’s funny. It is not."
"Two, they think it’s a way to get out of school. It is not. It’s a crime. Even if it’s not a credible threat against the school."
The sheriff says anyone who makes a threat against a school "will be fully investigated by me or all of our partners, depending on where it happens, and we will hand the baton to our prosecutor, and I’m confident they will be held accountable.”
Bouchard and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald stressed the fact that law enforcement will investigate all threats that are made to schools in order to protect students and staff, but so many fake threats are exhausting resources, which is why the FBI and Secret Service are assisting.
Tim Waters, special agent in charge for the Detroit FBI office, says he has set up a command post of 40 people to track down threats. They fielded 25 threats Thursday, clearing at least 13, as of 4 p.m.
“There’s a lot of people out there that are concerned, and they have every right to be," Waters said. "We encourage folks, that if you have any threat information to please report it to your local law enforcement contacts or you can contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI to provide that information.”
“If you’re making threats, we’re going to find you,” Bouchard said of those making copycat threats.
Related
A female student at Sterling Heights Stevenson High School is awaiting charges after she was arrested for allegedly making a threat at the school.
McDonald told reporters she will prosecute anyone making threats to the fullest extent possible, noting that false threat of terrorism is a felony that carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
As he has noted multiple times over the last few days since the tragedy at Oxford, Bouchard warned the public to take caution when browsing social media.
Specifically, Bouchard made note of a threat circulating social media claiming there would be multiple suspects working "in concert" at schools across the area to carry out a so-called "hit week" with attacks on multiple days. Investigators have found no evidence to believe the threat is credible in any way.
While Bouchard pleaded with the public to refrain from making false threats, he encouraged anyone who has information about a threat to submit it to the sheriff’s office or their local law enforcement agency.
Related
Those with information about threats can submit it to the OK 2 SAY tipline on the state’s website. Officials have said tips to that student safety line increased 28 times over the past two days in the wake of the Oxford shooting.
Those who work with the OK 2 SAY program say in a usual week they would receive 30-50 tips, but over the past two days since the shooting Tuesday afternoon, about 1,400 tips have been recorded. The system allows students to confidentially report tips on potential threats or criminal activities directed at students, teachers, other school workers and school buildings.
Investigators are still working to determine what drove 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley to bring a gun to school and open fire on classmates on Tuesday. Bouchard has said his department did not receive any information from the school regarding Crumbley before the shooting.
Authorities said Wednesday the teen met with school administrators on Monday regarding behavioral issues and again on Tuesday, with his parents present, just hours before the killing spree.
Bouchard stressed the fact his department did investigate multiple incidents earlier in November, but they did not involve Crumbley and were not deemed to be credible.
"There were multiple threats that were investigated in the Oxford and Oakland County area prior to this event that people are convoluting into this event," Bouchard said. "Those were investigated and cleared as non-credbile and are not related. The deer head incident, the 'countdown clock,' there was another threat that turned out to be out of Georgia. None of those had anything to do with this case or this incident or this perpetrator."
A social media rumor circulating this week claimed the shooter had a "countdown clock" in the days leading up to the rampage, but Bouchard said it was false and the clock originated from a bar that was counting down to a band performing at the bar.
Authorities have identified the students who were killed Tuesday as 14-year-old Hana St. Juliana, 16-year-old Tate Myre, 17-year-old Madisyn Baldwin and 17-year-old Justin Shilling.
Meanwhile, three students remained in the hospital, as of 6:30 p.m. Thursday. One of the 17-year-old girls who was in critical condition on Wednesday, with a gunshot wound to the chest, has been upgraded to stable condition.
Another 17-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl were also in stable condition Thursday evening. Four other victims -- three students and a teacher -- have been discharged from the hospital. Families of all the victims are requesting privacy.
Related
Stay tuned to WWJ Newsradio 950 for the latest updates on this developing story. >>> LISTEN LIVE!
