FBI warns Norwell police about Snapchat message threatening school shooting

A Snapchat message threatening gun violence at a Massachusetts school prompted Norwell police to launch an investigation, the police department said.

At around 6:59 p.m. Wednesday, an FBI agent contacted Norwell police to inform them of a message used on the social media app Snapchat, police said in a statement.

The agent told police that Snapchat's software flagged the post and reported it to the FBI, the statement said. The post showed a child with the message “What do I know, I'm shooting up the school.”

When police arrived at the child's home, he admitted to posting the incident in a private Snapchat story and that it was meant as a joke, the statement said.

The child has no access to weapons and does not live with anyone who owns weapons, police said.

Although police found the threat implausible, the investigation is ongoing and police presence is being increased at local schools, the department wrote. Police Chief Edward Lee “has increased police patrols at all schools and surrounding areas.”

This was the second time a Massachusetts police department opened an investigation into a school gun threat made on Snapchat. On Wednesday, a child was charged for making threats on Snapchat on Monday, prompting alerts to Newburyport police.