Fake School Shooting Trend

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Overview

The Fake School Shooting Trend, also known as the September 2024 Fake School Shooting Threats, refers to a wave of hoax school shooting threats and bomb threats made on TikTok and Snapchat (among other methods both on social media and elsewhere) in September 2024 aimed at various American grade schools, including Poplar Bluff Junior High School in Missouri and North Belmont Elementary in North Carolina, among many others. The threats were predominantly made by Gen Alpha students at middle schools and elementary schools who aimed to swat their schools. The fake school shooting threats received police intervention and local news coverage around the country that month. The trend surfaced en masse after the Apalachee High School Shooting in Georgia that occurred on September 4th, 2024. The threats notably caused school shutdowns, delays and viral discourse online.

Background

Starting in early September 2024, hoax school shooting threats made local news headlines. For instance, on September 10th, the Facebook^[1] page of the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina announced threats made by a juvenile that was under investigation, gaining over 300 reactions in a week (shown below).

CLEVELAN COUNT Cleveland County Sheriff's Office September 10 at 7:45 AM ✡ ***UPDATE*** ••• As a result of the investigation, it has been confirmed that the photos circulating social media and the threats toward schools were originated and posted by a juvenile. The Sheriff's Office will continue to investigate to determine if there are others involved. We would like to emphasize that all threats of this nature are taken seriously and investigated to the fullest. The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office is aware of the photo circulating around social media of the individual holding a firearm and subsequently making threats toward schools. We are in close communication with Cleveland County Schools and have an active investigation into the incident. There will be additional Sheriff's Deputies at school campuses this morning and we will update with any additional information, as we have it available. CLEVELAND SHERIFF EST. HERIFF'S FFICE OFFI 18HERIFF CLEVELAND COUN NC SHERIFF'S COUNTY ROLINA OFFICE PRESS RELEASE 308 SHERIFF A-165 CLEVELAND COUNTY SHERIFF #WeAreCCSO 82 comments 227 shares

Also on September 10th, the Facebook^[2] page of North Belmont Elementary shared an announcement post addressed to the parents, reading, "We want you to know that a message circulating overnight on social media (TikTok) has caused concern for some schools in Gaston, Cleveland, Lincoln, and Mecklenburg counties. The message is ambiguous, but it does reference school safety. Please know that law enforcement is aware and investigating to determine who posted the message" (shown below).

North Belmont Elementary September 10 at 8:47 AM · Good morning, parents and employees, this is Mr. Beam calling with an important communication. We hope you are doing well. We want you to know that a message circulating overnight on social media (TikTok) has caused concern for some schools in Gaston, Cleveland, Lincoln, and Mecklenburg counties. The message is ambiguous, but it does reference school safety. Please know that law enforcement is aware and investigating to determine who posted the message. We are conducting a normal school day today. As a precaution, we are heightening our safety procedures to ensure that we have a regular and safe day here at school. Thank you for your continued support of our school, and please know that we appreciate your trust in us to keep everyone in our school family safe. Thank you, and have a nice day. ib 34 13 comments 100 shares

On September 11th, local Kansas news outlet WIBW^[3] reported on threats circulating on TikTok against Junction City Middle School in Kansas. Also that day, FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth uploaded a video to its YouTube channel reporting on the fake online threats in Texas, receiving over 8,800 views and 90 likes in five days (seen below).

Also on September 13th, the FOX 13 Tampa Bay YouTube channel uploaded a video discussing the surge of school threats since the Georgia school shooting, receiving nearly 6,000 views, 140 likes and 60 comments in four days (seen below).

Online Reactions

On September 11th, 2024, a thread discussing the rise in school shooting threats was posted to the subreddit /r/PrepperIntel^[8] with many confirming the surge of them occurring that month. A Reddit post to the subreddit /r/OutOfTheLoop^[7] inquiring about the uptick in threats to U.S. schools on TikTok also appeared on September 13th, with the post accumulating over 140 upvotes and 50 comments in four days. The top-voted answer from Redditor Ok_Acanthocephala101 stated:

Answer: kids don't have developed frontal lobes and think that making a vague threat 'anonymously' will just equal a day off of school and not realize that it won't stay anonymous.

On September 12th, news outlet Audacy^[4] linked the aforementioned reports and others, identifying a social media trend of fake school shooting threats.

On September 13th, 2024, Sheriff Mike Chitwood of the Volusia County, Florida Sheriff's Department posted a video of his then-recent press conference to Twitter / X^[5] that he captioned, "Enough with the school threats." In the video, he said that 54 tips had surfaced in his jurisdiction throughout the day. He said that all of them were hoaxes and warned parents of the growing trend. The video received over 129,400 views and 1,900 likes in four days (shown below).

Enough with the school threats. pic.twitter.com/SqzEgQVBDs

— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) September 13, 2024

On September 18th, USA TODAY^[6] published an article on the topic called, "Schools across US hit with dozens of false shooting, bomb threats. Experts say it's a 'cruel hoax.'" USA TODAY found at least 30 active shooter false alarms and threats made at schools the previous week.