Police presence increases at local school following alleged Instagram threat
Update: According to a Susanville Police Department statement released Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 18, they “have identified the account used in the threat against Diamond View School. Our investigation thus far leads us to believe this was a hoax by an anonymous Instagram account holder. However, our investigation is ongoing to identify the person or people responsible for the message. I assure you our first priority is to protect our students and staff at Diamond View School. We would like to thank the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol for their assistance in this case.”
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Threats of possible violence made on Instagram spurred extra police presence at Diamond View School Tuesday, Feb. 18.
“Over the weekend, the Susanville Police Department and officials at Diamond View School received a threat, via an Instagram account,” according to a Monday, Feb. 17 statement from the police department. “The threat indicates a person intends to come to Diamond View School on Tuesday (Feb. 18) and do harm to the people present.”
The department wrote it is working with Instagram and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ascertain the account holder.
Due to the threat, the department said it would have increased police presence at the school Tuesday, with Lassen County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol assisting.
“We are still investigating whether this is a credible threat or some type of hoax by an anonymous Instagram user. I would stress that the Instagram account is suspicious in nature,” the statement continued. “We will continue our investigation and feed information to the community as we learn of it.”
Susanville School District also released a statement, which read, “Over the weekend, district administration was made aware that an anonymous threat had been made against Diamond View School through an Instagram post. The Susanville Police Department has been working diligently to identify the person behind the threat and will be actively patrolling the Diamond View neighborhood throughout the day tomorrow. While there may be no credibility to the threat, we want to be transparent with the information we have. The safety and security of our students and staff is our highest priority. We will keep you informed as we become privy to new information.”
