Two Dimond High School students were arrested Monday after threats they made on the instant messaging app Snapchat were flagged by that company and sent to authorities, authorities say.
The students on Monday posted “threats to cause harm at the school,” according to an Anchorage Police Department alert Tuesday. Snapchat pulled the posts and notified the FBI, which then reached out to police, they said.
School resource officers at Dimond investigated and identified the students, police said. The students were contacted at homes and interviewed, they said.
Dimond principal Tina Johnson-Harris in a message to families said police notified school officials just before 3:30 p.m. Monday that they were responding to a report of threats made against the school. The threats were made after the school day had ended, Johnson-Harris said.
The students were arrested, according to the message.
“The threat was shared amongst two students via social media and was not viewed by other users,” the principal wrote. “It was determined that there was no threat to students or staff at Dimond. Any threats towards the school are taken seriously.”
She also thanked Snapchat for reporting the threats to law enforcement.
A Snapchat spokesperson provided a statement by email Tuesday but did not answer specific questions including how often the company flags threats.
“We have zero tolerance for any activity on Snapchat that threatens violence, and we aggressively enforce against these violations,” the statement said. “We have tools in place to proactively detect these types of threats, and when we identify any content that appears to involve imminent threats to life – including school shootings – our team proactively escalates it to law enforcement so they can take quick action.”
Police said charges for both students were forwarded to state juvenile justice authorities. They will make the decision whether to pursue criminal prosecutions against them.
An Anchorage School District spokesman in an email Tuesday said the district is grateful for the help provided by Snapchat in informing law enforcement about the threat “and helping to keep students and staff safe.”