School Threat Spreading Across Nation Targets Harford County Schools

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — A generalized threat was received by two Harford County schools, the same threat being sent across the country to schools, officials say.

The exact same message being sent across the nation describes a three-step plan to threaten schools, scare everyone, then pull the fire alarm and shoot people. The message is crafted as a warning that students are encouraged to spread across social media. It starts out as "People are saying this..." and "...I'm not sure this is true but this is what I keep hearing people say and I just want everyone to stay safe to spread this message."

School resource officers at the two HCPS buildings where parents have reported the image with the aforementioned messages are aware of the situation. The SROs and the Harford County Sheriff's Office are still investigating while considering the messages to not be credible, the HCSO stated.

The Maryland Center for School Safety confirmed that this same image and message has been shared among students at schools across the state and the entire country, the sheriff's office added.

"While we believe this to not be an actual threat to any schools, and instead is a tool being used to cause disruption and panic, we still take every report of a threat very seriously. Our law enforcement partners continue to investigate and are in and around our buildings to ensure their presence is seen and felt on our school campuses," the HCSO stated. "We do hope the individual who is behind spreading this false fear is identified and fully prosecuted. A false threat is very disruptive to not only the school day, but to the mental health of our entire community and to the duties of our law enforcement partners. If you see something, say something- don’t continue to share it or post it on social media."