Maine

School Threats Made on Social Media Affect Learning Across Maine

Police in Old Town, Portland and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said they are now investigating the threats made against their respective communities

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Multiple schools across Maine were closed Thursday because of threats made on social media, affecting learning for hundreds of students.

At least one of them affected Portland High School and MSAD 6, which encompasses towns in and near Maine's Sebago Lake Region, was discovered by school administrators to be circulating on Snapchat.

A picture being shared by students showed a threat written on a non-descript cement wall with the words, "I will shoot up the school Thursday, September 30th."

"It's on a cement block wall that's everywhere in America's schools," said MSAD 6 Superintendent Paul Penna in an interview Wednesday interview with NBC affiliate NEWS CENTER Maine.

He explained that it was very possible the threat did not come from his district and possible the wall was not even in a school at all.

Nevertheless, Penna said, he had staff at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish search for the message immediately during the school day and custodial staff searched all district school buildings later on Wednesday.

"We haven't been able to locate" the message, he said.

Penna added that he does not believe the threat is credible, but it was still necessary to cancel classes.

"That doesn't matter, when you get threats," he said of holding school, explaining that, "out of abundance of caution," the district was "making sure the school community's safe."

In Portland, school officials decided to move Portland High School classes to remote learning on Thursday and canceled all after-school activities.

Meanwhile, in Old Town, which is a short distance north of Bangor, school leaders also canceled classes on Thursday at the city's high school because of another, different social media threat.

Police in Old Town, Portland and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said they are now investigating the threats made against their respective communities.

As of Thursday afternoon, Portland police said they did not have any update on who originated the Snapchat threat and they do not believe it came from anywhere in the city.

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