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Student charged following Orono Schools threats

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday a student has been charged in connection with social media threats made which resulted in a lockdown at Orono Public Schools Wednesday.

ORONO, Minn. - The Hennepin County Attorney's Office confirmed Thursday a student has been charged in connection with social media threats made which resulted in a lockdown at Orono Public Schools Wednesday.

The office says it has received the case against the student and has issued a juvenile petition (charge) against him. However, because he is a juvenile, the office cannot comment further at this time.

Two separate social media threats consisting of the phrase "shoot up the school" were made and brought to the attention of Orono Police late Wednesday morning. Police advised the school district to go into lockdown.

"We understand today's events caused some anxiety and discomfort to both students and parents as well as staff. Please understand our actions were done in the best interests of students and staff. Everything comes down to there safety," said Cory Farnoik, Orono Police Chief.

Images from SKY 11 showed a number of police cars on campus and snow plows blocking entrances to school parking lots. Parents were urged not to come to the school and were assured by the district via email or social media their students were safe.

Orono Police blocked the entrances to the school during a lockdown on Wednesday.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Minneapolis office was called in to help locate exactly where the social media threats came from, which revealed the posts were sent from someone inside the high school.

"Our investigation has produced two individuals of interest. One juvenile has been arrested," Farnoik said. He added the suspect arrested is a student and he was found and handcuffed in a high school classroom. He's being held on possible local and federal charges, including making terroristic threats.

On Thursday, Orono Police said the second person of interest in the case has been cleared from the investigation and was found not to be associated with the incident.

Portions of the lockdown were lifted around 3:15 p.m. and it ended by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. No students or staff were injured in the incident. All evening activities were canceled.

"We are extremely grateful that all of our students are safe," said Orono Schools Superintendent Karen Orcutt. "Safety and security come first on our schools and they (Orono Police Department) guided our actions today."

Entrances to the school were blocked during a lockdown on Wednesday.

Last week, Orcutt wrote a message to the district about student safety in light of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that claimed the lives of 17 people.

"At first they (the students) were really scared, but as the day went on we started to get more silly texts. The students handled it well. The teachers handled it well. As parents, we're getting as much information as they can give us," one parent told KARE 11.

"I'm an ex-military guy. I don't want to take guns away from people, but at the same time nothing is being done," another parent told KARE 11. "When you do nothing, this is what you get."

On Tuesday night, students noticed a potential threat posted to social media and notified district officials. The post did not specifically mention any Orono school but allegedly included a picture of a gun. Orono Police investigated and found the threat to be non-credible.

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