Copiague Middle School student charged with making threat of mass harm on social media

A Copiague Middle School student was arrested and charged with making a threat of mass harm on social media, Suffolk police said.

In a press release Monday, police said they had arrested the student, a 12-year-old boy, at 6:43 a.m. after he had posted a picture on Instagram that showed a gun and school officials called 911.

Police said they determined the threat was not credible.

The student, who police did not name, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor. He also will face school discipline.

Copiague Superintendent Kathleen Bannon and a spokeswoman for the district did not agree to an interview, but shared a statement that the spokeswoman, Deirdre Gilligan, said had gone out to the school community. That statement said classes at Copiague Middle School were first delayed, then canceled for the day while police investigated the threat, including a search of the student's home that found no weapons. School officials had called police shortly before midnight on Sunday, according to the statement.   

"We ask that parents and guardians take a moment to remind students that threats have no place in our schools or our community," the statement said.

In 2022, Newsday reported that police responded to two unconnected, "non-credible" threats directed at two Copiague schools. One led to the arrest of a 13-year-old middle school student. The other, a bomb threat made to the high school, prompted a school evacuation, police and school officials said.

Copiague's code of conduct allows for suspension of students who display or threaten to use a weapon, or what appears to be a weapon.