Lake County boy arrested following social media threats

A Lake County boy is charged with felony intimidation after he allegedly made threats on social media about shooting people at a school in St. Ignatius, authorities said Thursday, May 26.

According to information from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, law enforcement officials were made aware of the alleged threats at about 2 p.m., Thursday. The threats reportedly stated that the boy, who was not identified by authorities, was going to go to the school with a gun with the intent to harm others.

“Within minutes of this initial report, the youth was located by deputies away from the school and detained,” the Sheriff’s Office report states.

The boy was arrested following a preliminary investigation. A search warrant for the boy’s home was being executed on Thursday.

The boy was in Lake County District Court on Thursday afternoon, and was potentially being transported to the youth detention facility in Missoula County, pending his court hearing.

The alleged incident happened a few days after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.

The St. Ignatius school went into a soft lockdown, “just to be safe,” St. Ignatius Superintendent Jason Sargent said in a message to parents. He said the suspect was in custody before school ended.

“We released students as normal at the end of the day,” Sargent said. No one was on campus that posed any threat to the district.”

ON TUESDAY, a 14-year-old was arrested in Flathead County after allegedly making threats against the Columbia Falls Junior High School and student body, authorities say.

The teenager potentially had access to unsecured firearms in his home and an “investigation showed enough evidence to determine there was a real potential for the juvenile to follow through with the threats,” said Chief Clint Peters of the Columbia Falls Police Department in a press release.

Authorities described it as an isolated incident with no other suspects. Officers arrested the 14-year-old on Monday, May 30.

Peters said that the department began investigating the teenager, who authorities did not identify, after receiving reports of the threats from fellow students and parents of students on May 27. During a search of the 14-year-old’s home, authorities seized several firearms.

“The juvenile suspect remains in custody and the firearms remain in police custody to ensure the safety of our school and students,” Peters said.

Peters said his department would not release any further information regarding the arrest to protect the identity of the juvenile and “the integrity of this case.”

He thanked the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and school district officials for their help in the investigation. He also lauded those who reported the alleged threats.