Lorain County Deputies Take Online Threats Seriously

(Elyria) - Lorain County Sheriff's Deputies have charged a 13-year-old in connection with an online threat that said a middle school would be "shot up" on Monday.

On Sunday, the Sheriff's office received information of a possible plot to hurt students at Westwood Middle School in Elyria Township. A deputy contacted a student at his home in Elyria. That student said someone was using a Snapchat account in his name, making a threat that said "There has been a rumor that Westwood Middle School in Elyria, Ohio will be getting shot up on Monday December 6. Stay Safe y'all. Send to all and will posted s[spread the word." (Spellings and grammar are as they were in the post.)

A deputy tracked down the source of the post, finding the 13-year-old who crated the post. He did so by getting the IP address of the boy's family's computer. The boy admitted he created the social media account to make it look like another student sent it out.

The 13-year-old was booked into the Lorain County Juvenile Detention Home, and was charged with terrorism and aggravated menacing.

Lt. Robert Vansant told WTAM that they want to make it clear that the Sheriff's Office is very serious about dealing with threats. It's believed this could be a sort of copy cat reaction to the shooting last Tuesday at Oxford High School in Michigan.

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