A 14-year-old boy suspected of making a series of threats to commit violence at a middle school in Corona, California, has been arrested, as schools across the country are on high alert over alleged threats of school shootings and bombings on TikTok, mostly citing December 17 as the date of attack.
Corona Police said on Thursday that the department was notified at 2 a.m. the morning before of a possible threat at Auburndale Intermediate School in the 1200 block of River Road, KABC reported.
"Out of an abundance of caution, officers were assigned to be present at the school during the day," Corona police said in a statement.
Early afternoon on Wednesday, a student at the school reported another threat made via social media of violence that might be perpetrated on Thursday "due to the police department being present at the school."
The police did not confirm the arrested teenager was making threats on TikTok.
Police traced the source of the alleged threats to a boy living in the 100 block of North Buena Vista Avenue, Corona, and investigators went to the home on Wednesday night, where they met with the suspect and his parents, who cooperated, police said.
Investigators said they didn't find weapons in the residence and that the suspect appeared to act alone. He was booked into Riverside Juvenile Hall.
Schools across the United States beefed up their security on Friday, amid alleged threats of shooting and bomb threats in multiple schools. School officials tried to assure parents that the alleged posts were not considered credible.
A school shooting that killed four students in Michigan on November 30 has prompted a spate of copycat threats that have put school officials on edge.
Schools in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania said on Thursday there would be an increased police presence in response to the threats.
The Associated Press reported that the anonymous posts online warned that multiple schools would receive shooting and bomb threats. Reportedly, the "threats" began on TikTok and were then reposted on other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter.
However, in a statement on Twitter on Thursday, TikTok said it was working with law enforcement to co-operate, but had not found evidence of threats spreading via the social media platform.
"We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness," the statement said, "which is why we're working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok."
