Four North Texas middle school students charged with social media threats

LEWISVILLE, Texas (CBS News Texas) – Four Lewisville ISD middle school students face charges after threats were made to their school on social media.

Lewisville police said they were alerted to the posts by the school district on Thursday and recognized them as repeats of other false threats made across North Texas this month.

The four suspects are all students at Huffines Middle School, police said. Their identities are not being released because they are minors. Police say the threats were not credible and the suspects tricked them into avoiding school on Friday.

Each of the suspects was charged with terroristic threats and taken to the Denton County Juvenile Detention Center.

“We encourage parents to be honest with their children about the consequences of threats. It is NEVER a joke and we will never treat it as one. We also thank our students who reported these unlawful activities and encourage all students to report any illegal activities to LPD or LISD immediately,” the department said in a news release.

Wave of threats against schools

The arrests in Lewisville came a week after five people were arrested elsewhere in North Texas for making threats against schools:

• Kevin Martinez-Molina, 18, is accused of making threats against Arlington High School
• A teenage student at Gunn Junior High School in Arlington ISD
• A teenage student at Arlington Lamar High School
• A young student at Hunt Middle School in Frisco ISD
• A 16-year-old student at Wylie East High School

Earlier this month, a 15-year-old boy was also arrested and charged with making a threat against Royse City High School.

Since four people were killed in a shooting at a high school in the US state of Georgia, the number of threats against schools across the country has increased.

MORE LOCAL NEWS: Hearne police arrest student in connection with threats against school

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