WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Five Stilwell Junior High School students are facing charges after making threats on social media and orally last week, according to the West Des Moines Police Department.
Sgt. Jason Bryan said the charges follow an investigation by the police department and the West Des Moines Community School District that began Friday, Dec. 10.
Two students are facing felony terrorism charges and three more are facing aggravated misdemeanor charges for harassment. All of those students are being charged as juveniles, so their names will not be released.
"The seriousness of the crimes and the disruption of the school and the learning environment were factors taken into account when criminal charges were filed," police said in a press release.
"On Friday specifically, these social media threats quickly caused parents to be concerned which led to an overwhelming amount of phone calls made to the school and parents arriving at the school to remove their children."
This comes after a joint statement from WDMCSD and several other metro districts Thursday in response to growing social media attention to threats against schools nationwide.
That statement read in part:
"While there has not been a specific threat made to any of our central Iowa schools, our districts have partnered with local law enforcement to investigate these claims. At this time, law enforcement has not acquired any evidence that would deem these threats as credible. Out of an abundance of caution, our schools will be in close contact with law enforcement throughout the day on Friday."
The statement also urged parents to talk to kids about appropriate social media usage and report anything suspicious to the school or local law enforcement.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety also said Thursday they were monitoring the situation but had not seen any specific or credible threats in the state.
The West Des Moines Police Department said while they are "always vigilant and will stay vigilant," they are not increasing patrol Friday because social media concerns about Friday, Dec. 17 were national and not specific to the Des Moines or West Des Moines areas.
WDM PD reiterated any suspected threats should be reported to police or school staff members.
WATCH | Ames School Board votes to remove student resource officers from district