Suspicious Social Media Post Investigated In Steuben County

Chiang Mai, Thailand – February 2022 : Social media application on the smartphone scree

WAYLAND – Police investigated a message posted to social media last night that caused alarm in the Wayland community.

Sheriff Jim Allard reports that on Wednesday evening at about 10:20pm, a social media
message was reported to the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office in which a photo depicted what appears to be a firearm and captioned, “Don’t come to school tomorrow”.

This message was shared by persons in the Wayland-Cohocton School District, causing security concerns and alarm, and the temporary closing of the school. Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Investigators worked through the night to track down the origin of this message.

According to Sheriff Allard, it was confirmed that this message originated in Wisconsin, with a similar sharing and response within the local school district there.

The originator of the message is currently in police custody in Wisconsin. However due to the age of the person originating the message, no name will be provided. There appears to be no direct association between this person and anyone in the Wayland-Cohocton School District outside of social media.

Allard says that no direct threat was made here, nor was there any overt attempt at violence
conducted here.

The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office urges all parents to communicate the dangers of accepting social media friend requests from unknown persons to their children. We also recommend that parents remain involved in their children’s social media accounts and report any suspicious activity to your local law enforcement.

Sheriff Allard thanked the Monroe Crime Analysis Center, Snap Inc., the Woodruff
Wisconsin Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their assistance in this investigation.

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