Police arrested a 17-year-old male at his Brandon Township home this morning in connection with the shooting threats made on the After School app. The suspect’s name has not yet been released. He is a senior at Brandon High School. The suspect is still being interviewed, but has confessed.
“He’s cooperative with us and has given details of what he did,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Greg Glover.
The “After School” social media app caused widespread fear in the community, withdrawal of students from school on Tuesday, and a police presence at all secondary schools that included searches of students upon entry to buildings.
In a letter to parents on Wednesday morning Superintendent Matt Outlaw informed the community of the apprehension.
“I want to thank you all for your patience and understanding during this difficult time. I would also like to thank the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department and the technology department at Afterschool App that worked tirelessly with the school to find this suspect.”
“As we move forward from this event, this may be a great time to talk to your sons and daughters about social media. There is nothing that is truly anonymous in this forum and involvement in social media needs to be very responsible.”
Outlaw, as well as Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Greg Glover, were notified around 10:30 p.m., Dec. 8 via students and parents of threats that were posted to the ‘After School? social media app, a site that allows students to anonymously post messages. Two of the messages, also seen on Facebook after the threats went viral, read, ‘Im warning all of you Im gonning (sic) to shoot up the school so if you know what good for you stay home? and ‘Tomorrow Im gonna shoot and kill every last one of you and its going to be bigger than Columbine just wait.? The messages were accompanied by what is believed to be stock internet photos? not of the actual suspect, but of an individual in a school hallway holding a long gun.
The messages pertained to the Brandon School District, Glover confirmed, although a specific building was not cited. Outlaw and Glover immediately took action, with messages sent to district faculty Monday night, a decision to not close school, and mobilization of police to ensure the safety of students and staff.
‘We had to have a ton of manpower, it caused a major disruption for parents picking up kids, not sending kids to school, nothing is going on in classes, they are sending kids home as we speak,? said Glover. ‘Kids from other districts even saw this. This was a legitimate threat, but everything went smooth? school opened 15 minutes later than it normally does because of lines and searches.?
OCSO dispatched 12 patrol units to the district on Dec. 9, with at least four deputies at each of the secondary schools? at the high school, the middle school, and at the alternative high school, housed in the former Belle Ann Elementary. Teachers arrived early to help and only a single entrance was open to each building, with students lined up outside. Students were searched prior to admittance, with a pocket knife confiscated at the middle school and an ibuprofen taken at the high school, but no other contraband found.
‘We had a number of safety protocols that are less visible and we did that at all three of the secondary buildings,? Outlaw said. ‘The decision was made to keep school open, the police deal with these kinds of threats and we take recommendations from law enforcement. While we take every precaution in the world, the threat was not as specific as it typically would be. Typically, what is happening across the nation right now, we don’t close school unless it meets specific parameters. Bomb threats pop up all over the place and very rarely is school closed, otherwise, you would be closing school all the time.?
Outlaw said on Tuesday, 83.7 percent of students were in attendance at Brandon High School, with 174 students absent out of 1,067. On any given day, the high school averages 95 percent of students in attendance.
‘We definitely have people who kept their kids home, which is fine, their choice,? he said.
Outlaw and Glover both expressed confidence the suspect would be apprehended.
Glover said he would be ‘shocked? if no arrests were made. He was in contact with the ‘After School? app’s developer on Tuesday morning. The controversial app made headlines last week as well, after a Flushing High School student made gun threats on the site. The student’s name is currently withheld pending his arraignment.
In the Brandon case, Glover said the suspect, believed to be a student in the district, will face multiple charges, including ‘act of terrorism,? a 20-year felony.
‘Kids think they can post anonymously on social media, that it will never get back to them and it’s untraceable,? said Glover. ‘That’s not true… The company is working with us, cooperating and doing everything on their end to find out who sent the threat.?
Outlaw sent a letter home to district parents just last week warning them about the after school app (www.afterschoolapp.com), which is described by the site as an ‘anonymous and private message board for your school. Post confessions, funny experiences, compliments and more!? The app’s icon features a tiger wearing yellow-striped sunglasses and while temporarily taken down by Apple following complaints, was reinstated with a new rating for those 17 and over, for ‘infrequent /mild profanity or crude humor; infrenquent/mild sexual content and nudity; frequent/intense mature/suggestive themes; and infrenquent/mild alcohol, tobacco, or durg use or references.
In the message to parents, Outlaw wrote that the site contains inappropriate content and has been used to bully and tease other students. The app can be downloaded to smartphones, but is also accessible via Facebook. The message continued that Brandon had absolutely no reports of issues with the application at that time and ‘our new wireless security system would make it almost impossible for our students to access this or other inappropriate content while on our campus. We are sharing this with all of you as a heads up and so that you can keep an eye out.?
With the new threat, the district is applying pressure to the app developer. Outlaw said this may be the end of the anonymous component of the app.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Brandon substation at 248-627-4911.