Eaton Rapids, Stockbridge teens charged with making false terrorism threats

EATON RAPIDS - An Eaton Rapids teenager who sent a social media meme referring to a school shooting has been petitioned into juvenile court on allegations of making a false terrorism threat.

He is the second area teen in the last week to be charged in connection with false threats.

The Eaton Rapids boy, 16, was detained on Wednesday night and appeared before a family court judge on Thursday. He was released to his parents pending another hearing on March 2 and has been suspended from school.

Eaton Rapids Schools Superintendent Bill DeFrance said another student sent a photo of a Snapchat message to a teacher on Wednesday night. The teacher notified the principal, who called police. 

"We were able to identify the person (who sent the message), and police ... had great cooperation from all parties," DeFrance said. "Based upon their investigation, they determined there was no credible threat."

According to statements in court, the meme included an image of a young person with text referring to a school being "shot up." DeFrance said the meme made "some reference" to the recent mass shooting at a Florida school.

More:Police: Stockbridge student made 'threat of gun violence,' expected to face charges

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The teen's attorney, Jamie White, said he believes the case resulted from "a very understandable over-reaction based on national events."

"It doesn't surprise me or the family that these actions were taken, but I hope and expect that after a full review of the circumstances, this matter can be resolved," White said. "We intend to cooperate fully for the purpose of providing any comfort to those who may have felt as though there was an actual threat."

School officials and police responded quickly, and the boy and his parents were cooperating, DeFrance said.

"I know that sometimes (people are) trying to be funny," he said. "And in today's society, we can't tell at face value if something is funny or something is threatening. If the individual thought they were trying to be funny, it really had a lot more serious consequences than that."

Similar incidents have happened at other area schools.

In Stockbridge, schools were closed for two days last week while police investigated a “threat of violence” made against the Junior/High School.

A 14-year-old Stockbridge student was arrested after police said he admitted making the threat, which school workers found on an internal network.

The teen was charged over the weekend with making a false report of terrorism and remains in custody, Stockbridge Police Chief Johnnie Torres said. He was charged as a juvenile.

Torres said the boy did not take action to carry out an attack.

Christopher Haxel contributed to this report.

Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.