Rumor That Shut Down Tewksbury School Started On Social Media

TEWKSBURY, MA -- The evacuation and search of Tewksbury Middle School Wednesday morning was prompted by an anonymous message a student at the school received Tuesdat night. Police say the student received the message warning him not to go to school Wednesday on the app Lipsi around 9 pm Tuesday. The student asked if there was going to be a school shooting and then posted a screenshot of the exchange to other Wynn students on Snapchat.

Parents who saw the exchange emailed school officials. When school officials saw the messages after they arrived to work on Wednesday, they decided with Tewksbury Police to divert students to Tewksbury Memorial High School as a precaution, police said. The anonymous message never included a threat; it was the response of the student who received the message that triggered the worries.

"why shouldn't I go to school are you coming to my school to shoot it up?" the student reportedly wrote to the anonymous message sender

Police searched the building with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police bomb squad and the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council school threat assessment team. Massachusetts State Police said that no hazardous items were found and students were allowed to re-enter the building around 11 am Wednesday.

"The staff is doing a great job my daughter been texting me and they are keeping all the kids calm and the general feelings from the kids is ok. She [said]no one is panicking or getting upset," one parent posted on a Facebook group for Tewksbury residents.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).