Cumberland police say a threat posted on Instagram that led authorities to close Greely High School on Tuesday likely was a meme posted by someone from outside Maine.
The threat was reported to school officials by a student around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. Superintendent Jeff Porter closed the school for the day and put two other schools in lockdown after speaking with police about the threat. The school resource officer and others from the department were on campus throughout the day.
Police Chief Charles Rumsey said the threat was posted under an account named “greelyhigh_drama” and read “I just blocked everyone I don’t wanna kill / If you can read this…. its gonna happen.”
The investigation revealed that the threat was a meme that has been available on the internet since at least November 2019, Rumsey said.
Rumsey said Detective Benjamin Burnes worked with members of the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office to secure and review digital evidence to try to identify the person who posted the threat. While the investigation is ongoing, Rumsey said, police do not believe the person responsible is in Maine or poses an immediate threat to students.
“The nature of the threat, combined with the connection to the Greely High School, constituted a threat to commit violence dangerous to human life, which is a violation of the Terrorizing statute, and is classified as a Class C Felony,” Rumsey said in a statement Wednesday.
Rumsey praised the student who reported the post for “their swift thinking and action to protect fellow students.”
Greely High School was closed to students on Wednesday as a remote learning day. The school is expected to reopen for in-person classes on Thursday.
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