Police apprehend Newton teen accused with threat of terrorism

Police have apprehended a Newton juvenile and charged him with threat of terrorism and harassment for allegedly making threats last night to shoot up the school. According to a press release from Newton Police Department, the teen admitted to posting the threat and there were firearms in his residence.

At approximately 8:29 p.m. Sept. 18, police were notified of a Snapchat message circulating social media that warned of a plan to use firearms to initiate a school shooting. While investigating the social media post, officers received reports that a juvenile posted on Facebook stating he was going to shoot up every school.

Officers located the juvenile — whose name is not being released — and took him into custody without issue. He has since been transported to Central Iowa Juvenile Detention Center, a social services agency in Eldora. Police say they were unable to find any association between the Snapchat author and Newton.

The teen has been charged with threat of terrorism, a Class D felony, and first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Superintendent Tom Messinger notified families of the threatening statement made against the district. He said it has been brought under the control of and handled the Newton Police Department. Messinger thanked the individuals who brought the threats to the attention of law enforcement.

Safe+Sound Iowa was the reporting system used to notify law enforcement of the threat. The app is free to use and all submitted tips are anonymous.

SCHOOL THREATS MADE LAST WEEK

Newton Community School District was the subject of other possible threats last week. Again, the threat was made on social media. However, that particular instance involved a viral and misleading TikTok video many believed was a school “hit list.” Newton was included among the schools targeted.

The document featured in the video was later discovered to be from the Georgia Department of Education identifying Title I schools. It was referencing a Newton school district in Georgia, but because of its similar name law enforcement was notified and worked with administrators to determine the threat’s legitimacy.

It was determined that threat was not credible.

About the same time the TikTok video had circulated on the internet is when Berg Middle School staff responded to a potential threat, which again produced no evidence to support. Messinger told Newton News it was a mixture of bad timing and the false report circulating on social media that created a panic.Officers say threat traced back to social media, teen had firearms in residence