Police officers were posted at the Jefferson Village School and Erskine Academy Monday as a precautionary measure after the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received notification of a threat posted online that referred to Jefferson High School in Maine.
Lt. Michael Murphy, of the sheriff’s office, said in a press release his department is investigating the threat, which was not sent directly to a specific school. Jefferson, in northern Lincoln County, has no high school. The threat is considered generic, and Maine officials were notified of the threat by people from outside Maine who had come across the posting.
The threat says, “I’m going to shoot up my school after finals next Monday, so anyone that attends Jefferson High School in Maine, I am only targeting the teacher. Stay home please.”
Murphy said the sheriff’s office received a call overnight from a person out West who had seen the threat on a site called ifunny and reported it. This morning, the superintendent of the Central Lincoln County School System, Alternative Organizational Structure 93, received an email calling attention to the post.
“No threat was directly made,” Murphy said. “Judging by the text, it doesn’t appear to be from anyone in the state. There are not that many schools in the state, and it would be easy to find out,” he said. “It seems weird.”
In addition to the deputies posted in Jefferson, the Maine State Police posted a state trooper at Erskine Academy in South China. Officials at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle were also advised of the threat, but that school is not in session now.
Murphy said notes were sent home with Jefferson Village School students explaining the presence of the deputies at the school on Monday.
The Maine State Police Computer Crimes Unit is helping the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office with the investigation.
Jessica Lowell — 621-5632
Twitter: @JLowellKJ
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