Students Stay Home After Violent Threat At 2 Area Schools: Report

FREDERICKSBURG, VA — Many students at middle schools in Stafford and Spotsylvania counties stayed home this week after the two schools received an anonymous threat on social media, according to a media report. Nearly half of the students at Thornburg Middle School in Spotsylvania missed classes on Monday, and more than 250 at Gayle Middle School in Stafford missed classes on Tuesday, the Free Lance-Star reported.

On average, around 60 students miss class at the two schools on a typical day, the schools told the Fredericksburg newspaper.

The social media post, which surfaced Saturday, included a picture of a handgun and a threat to shoot up or cause harm at the two schools. It came in the wake of a mass school shooting last week at a high school in Florida.

The sheriff's offices in Stafford and Spotsylvania have sent extra deputies to local schools, and no further threats have been identified, say police and school officials.

Lt. Charles Carey, a spokesman for the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office, said detectives and sheriff's deputies in both counties were searching for the post's creator.

Police detectives have interviewed a number of juveniles this week, but no charges have been filed, the Free lance-Star reported.

If you or your child has information about who may have originally created the social media post, please contact the Crime Solvers tip line at 540-582-5822 (you may remain anonymous).

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