MIDDLETOWN, Md. — Three students have been charged in connection with threats that surfaced on Instagram and Snapchat, targeting Black students at Middletown Middle School.
The Frederick County Sheriff's Office made the announcement at a press conference Thursday afternoon, one day after the students allegedly responsible were identified.
The threats apparently consisted of photos that circulated around showing the suspects with guns, but according to the Sheriff's Office no school evacuations or lockdowns were required, because administrators determined there was no imminent threat of physical harm.
"Deputies privately interviewed each student involved along with their parent and/or guardian," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement Wednesday. "Deputies conducted searches of the involved student’s bedrooms and accounted for all firearms. It was determined that several of the firearms pictured were fake."
The students also voluntarily gave investigators access to their cell phones, and it turns out the photos in question were actually taken back in January or February, and later shared on social media.
The incident comes days after a series of unrelated threats were made at two other Frederick County Public Schools.
