GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Two Gwinnett County middle school students are facing criminal charges after their arrests for allegedly making threats on social media toward two schools this week.
Gwinnett County Schools Police arrested two boys who attend Five Forks Middle School on Tuesday, according to school officials.
Posts on social media were discovered Sunday that show guns with captions mentioning Five Forks Middle School.
Threats against Crews Middle School in Lawrenceville also were linked to the two students.
The students confessed to the posts and said, “The threats were not real and were made as a joke to scare people and disrupt our school community,” according to a letter sent home to parents.
“We don’t want to see students be arrested,” said Gwinnett County Schools spokesperson Bernard Watson. “But if you make these threats, they’re not a joke, they’re not funny, and you will be held accountable for your actions.”
Watson said school police officers have more tools to track down students who think they’re posting anonymously.
“We work with state, local, and federal investigators including the FBI, including telecommunications companies to investigate and get the info we need for who’s making these threats,” Watson said.
In August, a high school student was arrested and charged after similar online threats mentioned South Gwinnett High School.
School officials said there are more ways now for parents and students to notify administrators of threats.
An app released this year named GCPS Tips allows people to submit anonymous tips through their phones.