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ST. GEORGE — Police and school officials said they are investigating threats made to a group of students on Instagram Monday.
A series of messages threatening bodily harm and injury to students at Fossil Ridge Intermediate School were sent during the school day, according to Sgt. Sam Despain of the St. George Police Department. He said police were notified after students approached a resource officer at the school.
One student was mentioned by name in the messages, Despain said. The details of the threats were not disclosed, but police said the statements made by an anonymous Instagram user were not specific.
“We believe that nobody is in any danger of harm,” he said. “We are taking the threat absolutely serious and doing everything to follow all leads and track down who sent those messages through Instagram.”
We believe that nobody is in any danger of harm.
–Sgt. Sam Despain
Washington County School District superintendent Larry Burgeson said officials are trying to determine whether the message was sent as a prank. Police have been interviewing those involved and said they believe the threats were sent by a fellow student or acquaintance of one of the people who was contacted through Instagram.
The parents of the threatened students were notified of the incident Monday, Burgeson said. Investigators said they have no reason to believe anyone is in specific danger and classes proceeded as normal.
Despain said teenagers need to be aware that police take threats seriously, and that any statements that are threatening in nature or cause panic will be investigated.
“Bullying and things like that in today’s day and age of social media — students say things that perhaps they don’t mean, but it’s so easy just to put it out there from behind a keyboard or on their phone, to say things perhaps they wouldn’t say if they were face to face,” he said. “The teenagers and those on social media understand that we take those things very, very seriously.”
Investigators are working closely with Instagram to track down who sent the threats, according to Despain.
Contributing: Stace Hall
