LAKE ORION (WWJ) — A high school sophomore has been arrested after allegedly making a social media threat against Lake Orion High School.
The threat, made online over the weekend, led to hundreds of students not going to school this week, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
The 16-year-old suspect is being held at Oakland County Children’s Village on one count of making a threat of violence against a school.
A resident saw the threat online — made around 3 a.m. Saturday — and alerted the sheriff’s office. The threat allegedly said that on March 5 (Wednesday) an unnamed person was going to shoot up the school.
The threat said “many people will die,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office’s Computer Crimes Unit was able to get multiple search warrants to identify the sender of the message. He was arrested Tuesday.
It was later determined that the student had no access to any guns in his home.
“Once again, we have someone who made a threat against a school and through the diligent work of our team we were able to locate and subsequently arrest him,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “Let me reiterate, if you make a threat, you will be tracked down and held to account.”
Bouchard said because of the phony threat, 490 students called in sick on Monday, 255 students did not appear for school on Tuesday and 356 were missing on Wednesday.
The sheriff's office said a hearing was set Wednesday afternoon to determine next steps in the case.