TECUMSEH, Okla. — A Tecumseh High School student was arrested over the weekend after allegedly posting threatening images online that suggested a plan to harm the school district. The arrest prompted district officials to close all district schools Monday and Tuesday as a precautionary measure.
The investigation began Saturday morning when the FBI contacted the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office about a concerning Facebook post made last month.
"Saturday morning, around 9:30 a.m., the FBI contacted the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office with some social media posts they had received," said Tecumseh Police Chief J.R. Kidney.
According to investigators, the posts included photos taken inside the high school bathroom showing the student holding a pistol. Within hours, officers obtained a search warrant for the teen's home and began investigating what they determined to be a credible threat.
"They were able to recover the pistol, and there were a couple of other items in the photos that they recovered as well. And then after interviewing that juvenile, he admitted that he did have a plan, and that there were some things that he wanted to carry out," Kidney said.
The juvenile, whose name has not been released, was arrested and charged with multiple counts: Terrorist Threats, Threatening Acts of Violence, Violation of the Computer Crimes Act, and Obscene Materials.
The situation escalated when the detained teenager allegedly made additional threats while in the juvenile detention center, telling a worker that there were other people involved. This prompted district officials to close all schools for Monday and Tuesday.
Superintendent Robert Kinsey said he received a message from the Pottawattamie Sheriff's Office around 1 a.m. Monday morning, with the recommendation to close schools.
"So when I went to bed last night, we were planning to have school today," Kinsey said.
"It was the Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office recommendation that we go ahead and close school just to make sure everyone was safe… so we did shut school down for today and for tomorrow," he said.
Officials say all leads into the other alleged threats have been cleared, and they believe there is no current threat to the district or public.
"I think God intervened here too in terms of keeping us safe and making sure that our students and our staff were taken care of," Kinsey said.
The multi-agency response included the FBI, Pottawattamie County Sheriff's Office, and local police working together to investigate and resolve the threat.
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