ALAMEDA — A social media posting that students at Lincoln Middle School shared among one another — allegedly threatening violence at a school campus — originated in the state of Washington and was not connected with the Alameda school, police said.
But reports that students had seen the posting and were sharing it sent jitters among parents and staff at the school and prompted a police investigation on Monday morning.
Alameda police Lt. Hoshmand Durani said the shared video stemmed from a case in which two boys were arrested on suspicion of threatening violence at two schools in Washington — one at a middle school and the other at Tacoma’s Lincoln High School, which, due to having the same name as the Alameda school, triggered local alarm.
Investigators in Washington learned about the alleged threats on Sunday.
Durani said the Alameda student who initially shared the posting did not knowingly make any threats or act in a criminal manner when he mistakenly posted information about the video.
Alameda police now consider the investigation closed as there are no known threats related to Alameda or its schools, he said.
As a precaution, police stationed officers at the campus at 1250 Fernside Blvd. on Monday morning. The school was not placed on lockdown.
Susan Davis, a spokeswoman for the Alameda Unified School District, said Lincoln’s principal learned from families about a “disturbing” Snapchat message that multiple students were forwarding. In the message there was a reference to an Instagram post suggesting that there was a video in which someone threatens school safety, Davis said.
She noted that Lincoln was not referenced in the Instagram post.
The incident follows the mass shooting on Valentine’s Day at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 17 people were killed.
“We learned from our investigation that there was not a threat to Lincoln Middle School or any school in Alameda today,” police Chief Paul Rolleri said on Monday afternoon. “Social media posts related to Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington were spread locally that caused many people in our community to feel uncomfortable and afraid. We take every threat to our community and our schools seriously, and through our investigation we learned that students who shared these posts did not make any threats or act in a criminal manner. At this point, APD considers the investigation closed, as there are no known threats related to the City of Alameda or its schools.”
Sean McPhetridge, superintendent of the Alameda Unified School District, singled out families who raised concerns.
“We appreciate the families who brought these concerns forward to (Principal Michael Hans) and the Alameda Police Department,” McPhetridge said. “And while APD and AUSD certainly encourage people to report to us when they hear or see something of concern, we want to remind people that rumors on social media can cause greater disruption to our educational settings. We urge Alamedans to work with the school district and police department directly before posting on social media or contacting the press.”