Shooting threat closes Oshawa school

Following a post on social media threatening to “shoot up” his school, a 14-year-old male has been arrested.

On Monday, Nov. 9 at approximately 9 a.m., police were alerted to a threatening message on Twitter, indicating that the male wanted to “shoot up” his school.

The male was arrested at his school within the hour and school officials were contacted to help determine the credibility of the threat. The investigation revealed that the threat was intended as a joke and the student did not have access to any firearms.

In order to educate the student about the dangers and implications associated with the use of social media, he has entered into a diversion contract with the DRPS. If the contract is not completed satisfactorily, criminal charges may follow.

DRPS warns the public to be careful what they do on the web and especially on social networks. They should, for instance, consider everyone who can view their content, and the ways in which that content could be misinterpreted, misrepresented, or reposted without their knowledge or consent. Even after offensive posts are deleted, they may not be gone from the Internet.