The Northwest Public Affairs Network is a Washington nonprofit corporation.


© 2024 Northwest News Network
Regional Journalism

Bogus Social Media Threat At Spokane High School Linked to Identical Threat Made In Yakima

Max Pixel - tinyurl.com/yc7hl3yq

A threat written on a bathroom wall forced school officials in Spokane to place a high school on modified lockdown Friday. But the lockdown was a precaution because it wasn’t clear there was a threat at all.

Friday morning, the Spokane County Sheriff's office started hearing about social media posts that showed a photo of a threat scrawled across a bathroom wall at West Valley High School.

But an investigation of the photo showed it’s identical to one that was circulated early this week in Yakima County, where there’s a high school of the same name.

The Sheriff's office says no threats were written on any of the bathroom walls at the high school in Spokane and the tile in the picture doesn’t match tile at that school. ??

Officers are using the incident to remind social media users to check facts like where the post originated, before they report a threat.