Viral TikTok post leads to local school threats, drops in attendance

SPENCER, Mass. — The viral TikTok post threatening violence at schools nationwide Friday may have inspired at least two local school threats and led to drops in attendance at schools across the state.

Spencer police received information about two specific threats involving Knox Trail Middle School in the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District shortly after dismissal, the department said in a statement Friday.

The threats were “possibly inspired by the recent viral postings on social media,” police said.

In the first incident, a 13-year-old boy allegedly threatened to “shoot up the school” both verbally and on social media.

Police spoke to the student’s family, and he was taken into custody for a mental health evaluation. Officers say a replica handgun was confiscated “from a third party outside the home.”

In the second incident, a 12-year-old boy allegedly showed another student a handgun in his backpack during school. Police spoke to the family and confiscated a pellet pistol from the family, police said.

“The investigations in both cases are ongoing – no information about criminal charges is currently available,” police said. “That said, police are convinced that neither of these students has the means to carry out a school shooting.”

Although local police departments and school officials assured families Thursday the TikTok post itself did not appear to be a credible threat or have any local connection, police increased their presence in some districts and parents across the state chose not to send their kids to school Friday.

Spencer father David Russo told Boston 25 News his family had a conversation about the social media threat and decided not to take any chances with their two boys’ safety.

“It’s sad that you have to make a choice whether to send your kids off to school and bet whether it’s a hoax or not,” Russo said. “They were aware what was going on through TikTok. So, they were upset. They didn’t really want to go to school in case something happened… We ultimately decided to keep them home for the day.”

At Boston Public Schools, where additional officers were on patrol Friday as a precaution in the wake of the TikTok threat, attendance dropped from 88 percent Thursday to 76 percent Friday, a spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, in Litchfield, N.H., all three public schools were evacuated and dismissed early Friday morning after students reported receiving a text message from an unknown source displaying an image of a threat on social media.

The message contained the acronyms “CMS”, “LMS” and “GMS”, which match the district’s three schools: Campbell High School, Litchfield Middle School and Griffin Memorial School.

Superintendent Michael Jette told Boston 25 News administrators initially believed the threat may have been credible and, therefore, decided to evacuate the schools, move students and staff off campus to designated safe locations and reunify kids with parents.

Police and staff conducted safety sweeps of the building and determined the threat was not credible.

Jette said investigators were not sure if the threat was related to the TikTok post, which the district had notified families of on Thursday.

“Because it had the acronyms of all three schools, we took action because it felt more specific,” Jette said. “The staff did everything right. The staff was amazing… It is frustrating, but we would rather err on side of caution. It’s very frustrating this came through.”

The evacuation was a big undertaking but one the school and first responders rehearse on a monthly basis. The district has 1,200 students and 200 staff members; although, some students likely did not attend school Friday due to the TikTok threat and other reasons, including illness.

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