Tracing social media accounts and a phone number led police to arrest a 16-year-old in Eagan, who was charged Thursday with four counts of threats of violence with intent to terrorize.
Police and prosecutors say the teen’s social media posts that threatened shootings at high schools in Dakota County led eight high schools to close on Tuesday. They reopened on Wednesday.
Though firearms were seen in videos, Apple Valley Police Chief Nick Francis said they did not find weapons in a search of the teen’s family’s home and added “there is no belief that the suspect had access to weapons.”
The Dakota County Attorney’s Office charged him Thursday with four felonies.
When police took the teen into custody on Tuesday, he “initially stated that he did not make the posts” and eventually “said he made the posts because an unknown person had forced him to do it,” according to the juvenile petition’s probable cause statement.
“When asked to provide further details or an identity of this unknown person, (the teen) did not provide further information on this individual, and the tone and demeanor indicated this allegation was not true,” the probable cause statement continued. “… The allegation that another individual was involved in this incident is unfounded.”
The schools closed in Independent School District 196 Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Tuesday were Eastview, Eagan, Rosemount and Apple Valley high schools, along with the district’s two other high schools, Area Learning Center and School of Environmental Studies.
In neighboring Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District 191, Burnsville High School and Burnsville Alternative High School were closed Tuesday. The district dismissed all elementary and middle schools early that day.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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