- A South Carolina teen was charged for "making a direct threat against students" at his school, authorities said.
- The unidentified teen is accused of threatening to "shoot up the school" online.
- The arrest comes amid fears ignited by rumors shared on social media of potential school violence.
A South Carolina high school student was charged for threatening to "shoot up" his school in an online post, local officials announced on Friday.
The unidentified Lexington High School student, who is under 18-years-old, made threats against the school and classmates on social media, the Lexington County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
After receiving a tip, authorities arrived at the student's home. According to the statement, they said he was "motivated by a social media trend to disrupt classes during the final day before winter break." The department did not clarify which social media app the student used.
"The safety and security of all who learn and work at our county's schools are one of our top priorities," " Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the statement. "We're committed to investigate such threats, and we'll always take them seriously."
According to the department, the student was released to his parents and will appear in court for the charges.
The incident comes just weeks after the deadly school shooting that occurred at Oxford High School in Michigan and amid a wave of student arrests following reports of threats on social media. Among those arrested were a 13-year-old, who police say shared a threatening post online telling classmates to stay home from school, according to WFSB.
A purported TikTok trend warning of school violence prompted authorities and school officials to raise the alarm about potential threats in at least ten states. However, the threat was later debunked by the social media app and authorities.
"We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we're working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok, the TikTok communications team said in a tweet on Thursday.
"We've exhaustively searched for content that promotes violence at schools today, but have still found nothing," the platform said in a follow-up tweet on Friday. "What we find are videos discussing this rumor and warning others to stay safe," adding that media reports about the alleged trend "could end up inspiring real-world harm."