LEWISTON — Police said the student threat to Lewiston High School on Tuesday was a hoax. Classes were canceled Wednesday, but the building was open for afternoon sports and adult education.
Police say the 17-year-old LHS student will be charged with the juvenile offense of terrorizing.
The student’s name was not released.
The high school was shut down Wednesday after a student posted on social media Tuesday night that a friend would be “shooting up the school” the next day.
“I hope he kills you all,” the student added.
Lewiston police learned of the threat Tuesday night after someone saw it on social media and contacted them.
Soon after, Superintendent Bill Webster decided to cancel Wednesday classes and shut down the school. He tweeted late Tuesday about the threat and the school’s shutdown, after he informed administrators and staff of his decision.
On Wednesday morning, Webster tweeted that police had determined the student threat was a hoax.
“While LHS and (Lewiston Regional Technical Center) classes remain canceled today, the building is now accessible to staff,” he wrote. “Afternoon sports and evening activities will continue as scheduled.”
Webster said the school system sometimes gets threats, but this one was unusual because it was an open social media message that was quickly and widely disseminated.
“We know that students in other towns became aware of it,” he said. “I got a call from a neighboring superintendent, for example,” he said. “So we were put in the position of having to make a decision before the police could complete an investigation.”
The investigation showed there was no friend planning an attack at the school. The student made it up, Webster said.
The student has been suspended for up to 10 days and could face additional punishment if brought before the School Committee.
A screen shot of the threat forwarded to Lewiston school officials late Tuesday that forced the cancellation of school at Lewiston High School and Lewiston Regional Technical Center.
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