Lincoln Jr./Sr. High School Alerted Of Online Threat, Later Deemed Not Credible

According to information made available by the Ellwood City Area School District, and after further investigation by both Ellwood School Police and the Ellwood Police Department, the district was alerted of a concerning social media post and threat that has now been determined not to be credible.

“It was good cooperation between the Ellwood City Police Department and the District’s Police that brought this to conclusion so quickly,” said Ellwood City Area School District  Superintendent Wes Shipley. “I appreciate their work.  This is a strong example of how we place the safety and security of our students and staff in high priority.”

A full statement from Ellwood City Area School District and Superintendent Shipley reads as follows:

On Monday, February 20th at approximately 11:45 a.m., Ellwood City Area School District received a report of a concerning post on Instagram. The Ellwood City Police along with the District Police began investigating immediately. The Instagram post contained threatening language against Lincoln Jr/Sr High School that was to occur on “Thursday”. After further investigation by both Ellwood School Police and the Ellwood Police Department, it was determined that the Instagram post was a fake account. Multiple home visits to students that were following this account were made and it was quickly determined that a former student of the district that now attends an outside cyber-charter school was using this account with an out-of-state friend to make threats to students that he had known from elementary school. Police interviewed this student and completed a threat assessment of the situation. It was determined that this threat was not credible. The student is being charged for making these threats.

The District is aware that this fake Instagram account is circulating around the student population at this point. We have had multiple Safe 2 Say reports from concerned students about this situation. Please remind your children that this threat was dealt with immediately by the school district and the borough police and they are safe to come to school.

The safety and security of our students and staff is paramount and we take all threats seriously and will prosecute these individuals to the fullest extent that the law will allow us. The District is grateful to the District Police, Ellwood City Police and the many students who stepped up to share information which helped bring this case to closure.

The Ellwood City Jr./Sr/ High School is located at 501 Crescent Avenue, Ellwood City, PA 16117. More information on the district is available at, www.ellwood.k12.pa.us/