NCFL public schools watch for nationwide social media trend of violence before winter break

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - Alachua and Marion County Public School officials kept an eye out for any violence in our area after threats of bombings and school shootings circulated nationwide for the last day of the semester.

The situation follows several fake bomb threats in Alachua County early this school year.

Related story: UPDATE: Student accused of making bomb threats faces adult charges

A video was also circulating around the country planning a shooting at GHS but not specifying the exact location.

Alachua County Public Schools spokesperson Jackie Johnson said this threat raised concerns at Gainesville High School and law enforcement looked into it immediately.

“It did not specify Gainesville High School and it certainly did not specify a location but obviously people were very worried,” Johnson said. “We contacted law enforcement immediately as our standard procedure and they did some quick checking and informed us that that had been tracked back to a high school in California.”

Parents were informed about the threat.

“So it was not related to Gainesville High School but by then other people outside of Gainesville High School had also seen that particular screenshot and we’re sending it to the school,” Johnson added. “So we had the school send notifications to the staff.”

Marion County spokesperson Gregory Davis said law enforcement looked into the post that was circulating nationwide and found no credibility.

“We went ahead and took a deeper dive into it by checking the social media posts and we found no credibility to the threat. However, that doesn’t mean that we’re still not being precautious,” Davis said. “Law enforcement is on alert right now as well as our school resource officers. Some schools have taken a little bit of extra precautions to be safe but we’ve heard nothing within our school district thus far in specific regards.”

By the end of the school day, there were no threats or incidents in school in either county.

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