MSP Aware Of TikTok School Threat, Find No Creditable Threats

METRO DETROIT — Michigan State Police said Thursday night they are aware of a TikTok post encouraging students to threaten gun violence at their schools on Friday.

"The MSP is aware of the Dec. 17 school shooting copycat threats that are circulating nationwide on TikTok," Michigan State Police said. "At this time, we are unaware of any credible threats."

The threat circulating on the app declared Friday as "American school shooting day."

Several schools in metro Detroit have been impacted by recent threats. The Plymouth-Canton School District were virtual all week after a threat was found last week and Garden City High School switched to online classes after a shooting threat was air-dropped to students phones Wednesday.

Even though law enforcement agencies have made it clear they will investigate and charge anyone who makes a threat against a school, threats of violence against schools continue.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy recently charged four more students for making threats against schools, which brings the total up to 23 juveniles for making threats of violence following the Oxford High School shooting.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said they have had 135 threats against different school districts in Oakland County.

"If it is not credible we still continue the investigation and seek criminal prosecution because the mere threat is a crime. It's up to a 20-year crime in our state," he said.

Although it's unclear where the TikTok rumor originated, a news release issued by the Tooele County School District in Utah said the original threat started as a way for students to skip school, but "morphed into something much more disturbing."

Tiktok released a statement on Twitter saying: "We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, 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."

Patch reached out to several metro Detroit school districts asking if they heard any rumors or have seen any threats. Dearborn Public Schools and Royal Oak Public Schools responded they have not.