Livermore Police Investigating School Threat Amid TikTok Trend

LIVERMORE, CA — The Livermore Police Department is one of many police departments investigating a nationwide social media trend that threatened violence at schools Friday.

Extra officers will be patrolling near local schools, said Livermore police spokesperson Officer Art Rosas.

Police are in communication with school officials and have been looking into the matter since Thursday morning. There is no evidence to indicate any of these posts were created by local students, school officials said.

"While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously," Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District leadership said in a memo to families.

The trend originated on video-sharing app TikTok, which is particularly popular among youth. An image containing an anonymous, vague threat of gun violence was widely circulated.

See more: TikTok December 17 Challenge Has Police, Schools On High Alert

Various iterations of the post have apparently been shared and some officials say the post was intended as a way to skip school.

One of those posts is addressed to "students of GHS," said Rosas, who is the school resource officer at Granada High School.

Rosas said police were taking the post seriously but noted that numerous other schools shared those initials. Officers elsewhere investigated whether the post could reference Gilroy High School in the South Bay or Greenfield High School in Monterey County, KSBW reported.

Greenfield police said the "GHS" threat was geared at Gardena High School near Los Angeles, KSBW reported. Gardena police could not be reached for comment.

Rosas said Livermore police are not taking the matter lightly and assume all threats are credible unless proven otherwise, but stressed that these posts have been circulated across the country.

Police "will do everything we can to keep everyone safe," Rosas said.

"This situation serves as a good example of why it is important to avoid sharing and forwarding posts online that refer to school safety threats," LVJUSD leadership said. "Even if threats are determined not to be credible, they can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for our students, families, and staff. We ask that you monitor your student’s social media activity and speak directly with them about appropriate online behavior."

Anyone who sees or hears anything involving a particular Livermore school was asked to contact police at 925-371-4987.