Multiple Central New York schools were targeted by texts this week sent to students threatening violence using racist language, but the messages probably were not sent by the same person, according to police.
The threats were sent to students of East-Syracuse Minoa Central High School, Solvay High School and three Syracuse high schools, according to spokespeople from three police departments.
Investigators in Solvay and Manlius have seen no evidence that the threatening texts were sent by the same people, according to Sgt. Kenneth Hatter, a spokesperson for Manlius police, and Solvay Police Chief Derek Osbeck.
Syracuse police believe that the threats to the three Syracuse schools -- two city schools and a charter school -- were the result of one message being circulated around social media, spokesperson for Syracuse police Lt. Matthew Malinowski said.
Malinowski said police suspect the message mentioning Syracuse was a “copycat” of the message sent to other districts.
An East Syracuse Minoa Central High School student received a threatening text around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Manlius police said.
The threat came just a few hours after a homecoming dance, where multiple fights broke out, Hatter said Monday. Police have not confirmed whether the fights and threat were connected.
During the investigation, police discovered the threat was sent to one student and the student shared it with other students on social media, Hatter said.
ESM decided to move to remote learning on Monday while the threat was investigated.
The text threatened a shooting on Monday at the high school targeting Black students.
ESM students returned to classrooms Tuesday but all students were required to go through the main entrance and walk through a new weapons detection system.
On Monday morning, Syracuse students at Henninger and Corcoran high schools received threats that also included racist language, Malinowski said Monday.
The threats were similar to the one sent to the ESM student, he said Tuesday. The text threatened a shooting would occur at 12:30 p.m. Monday, police said.
The threat mentioned the city of Syracuse but not a specific school, Malinowski said. The threat was also seen by students at Syracuse Academy of Science, charter school.
Syracuse police are investigating the threat to all three schools.
Solvay High School also received a threat Monday afternoon containing similar language to those seen by ESM and Syracuse students.
Students told the Solvay high school principal a Snapchat that appeared to threaten Solvay students was circulating, Solvay Union Free School Superintendent Jay Tinklepaugh said in a letter posted on the district’s website.
The message threatened violence against Solvay students on both Monday and Tuesday, Tinklepaugh said in the letter.
“The message appears to be a copycat of the message that was sent on Sunday regarding the East Syracuse Minoa High School incident,” Tinklepaugh said. “Unfortunately, other school districts are also receiving the same copy of the threat.”
Osbeck said that the threat was originally sent as a text and it circulated to multiple students. Police were notified around 1:15 p.m. Monday.
All three police departments are investigating the origins of the numerous texts.
Staff writer Anne Hayes covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at ahayes@syracuse.com.