CONWAY — A 14-year-old boy faces a charge of first-degree terrorist threatening after police said he posted an online threat about “shooting up a school.”
Conway police spokesman LaTresha Woodruff said the boy made the threat on the website 4chan.org, and authorities learned of it at about 7:50 a.m. Monday.
“The Conway Police Department and the Faulkner County Sheriff’s Department immediately got to work securing the schools and working to find the source of the post,” Woodruff said in a news release. By 9 a.m., she said, “the poster had been tracked down here in Conway, identified and the threat alleviated.”
“The 14-year-old was pulled out of class and interviewed,” the release added. “Police did not find any weapons on him or in his locker. He told police he posted the threat as a dare.”
Police have not released the boy’s name because of his age; the criminal cases of minors are confidential under the law.
Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said he is working with police on this case.
In an email to parents and others, Conway Public Schools spokesman Heather Kendrick said, “The situation was handled expediently by law enforcement and our students and staff were never in any danger.”