The Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office and Spotsylvania County Public Schools released a joint statement Tuesday evening announcing six arrests in connection with threats involving schools made over the past two weeks, and a seventh was arrested Tuesday in relation to a social media threat.
Each of the juveniles was placed in the Rappahannock Juvenile Center.
The release noted that oral or written threats are a “severe offense that arises to a felony degree.”
It did not state the exact charges the juveniles face but highlighted Virginia law noting that “any person who knowingly communicates, in writing, including an electronically transmitted communication producing a visual or electronic message, a threat to kill or do bodily injury to a person …” can be charged with a Class 6 felony. The release also states that anyone who violates that law with an intent to commit an act of terrorism could face Class 5 felony charges.
“The threats received in Spotsylvania have been exhaustively investigated through cooperative information sharing between SCPS and the sheriff’s office and action taken as per the Student Code of Conduct and the Virginia Code,” the release stated.
School and law enforcement officials urged parents to speak to their children about the “severe consequences of making threats even if it is done as a joke.” They requested that community members refrain from posting information about the threats on social media to reduce the spread of unconfirmed or inaccurate information.
“The safety of our students and staff is our top priority,” the release stated. “We remind everyone that if they see something, to say something. Please immediately report concerns and threats to the sheriff’s office or school administrators.”
Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office Maj. Troy Skebo said the announced arrests do not include threats scrawled on the bathroom walls at Courtland and Massaponax high schools, which remain unsolved.
School safety is an ongoing concern in the Fredericksburg area. Skebo said a Courtland student, 17, was arrested Monday on a probation violation charge after posing on social media with a weapon. Skebo also noted that a Thornburg Middle School student was charged with assault and battery after allegedly stabbing another student with a pencil on Sept. 11.
The concerns are not limited to public schools. Fredericksburg Christian School, located on Thornton Rolling Road in Spotsylvania, was closed Tuesday after an alleged threat that Skebo said turned out to be unfounded.
