Online Threat Made Against Seacoast School

NOTE: This report has been corrected to show an individual was questioned and detained and not arrested. Our apologies for the confusion.

On the day of a debunked nationwide online threat of shootings and bombings at schools an individual was detained and questioned in connection with a threat made to an SAU 16 school.

SAU 16 Superintendent David Ryan said the Cooperative Middle School in Stratham was put into "secure campus" status Friday morning after a social media post threatened harm.

Additional police were already at the school in response to the chilling messages that appeared on TikTok and Snapchat deemed not credible by the state Department of Safety’s Information and Analysis Center. Those messages did not target any specific school on the Seacoast or anywhere else.

Exeter and Stratham police departments investigated the post and the person responsible has been detained and interviewed, according to Ryan, who said there was no indication the individual had the capacity to conduct any type of threat.

"As our top priority, SAU 16 maintains a robust student safety and school security program and we encourage everyone to follow the practice of ‘see something, say something', and we are especially grateful for those who alerted CMS Interim Principal Eris Hersey about the social media post," Ryan said.

A normal school day was held on Friday following the incident.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH