LANSING, N.Y.—A student at Lansing High School has been charged with a felony after the school and police claimed the student made a shooting threat against the school some time Wednesday morning.
Police said they went to the school around 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday after school officials “learned of a Snapchat post created by one of their students that referenced him becoming involved in a shooting incident at the school.”
Further, the post was distributed by another student and more people saw it, which led to school officials viewing it. Police said the school then “secur[ed] those involved” and has fully cooperated with the investigation. The student was not found to have a weapon when the report was made, according to police.
“The student who shared it commented on the post, further reiterating that the first student was going to shoot up the school,” according to Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne. “I commend our Lansing School officials for their prompt action and notification to law enforcement, this was handled extremely well.”
That type of threat would almost always elicit a strong response, but scrutiny is amplified in the wake of a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas in which a gunman shot 38 people and killed 21 of them, including 19 students and two teachers.
The student alleged to have made the threats is 16 years old, and their name is not being released. He has been charged with making a terroristic threat, a class D felony, and is set to appear in court later today. Police said they have ensured that the student does not have access to firearms and stated that there is no ongoing threat from the incident.
Police will maintain a presence at the school throughout the end of the year, continuing a policy that Osborne and Ithaca police announced after the Uvalde shooting.