Dangerous New Tik Tok Challenge
Sonora, CA – A new Tik Tok challenge is being called “dangerous” by Mother Lode law enforcement and is set to take place tomorrow.
Mariposa Sheriff’s office even put out a social media post warning the public about the threat.
It encourages students to create bomb and active shooter threats towards their schools on Friday, December 17th. Sheriff Jeremy Briese detailed that his staff will continue to monitor the threats and act accordingly.
“The safety of our students and school staff has always been a priority for my office. We are working very closely with the school administration to ensure the safety of our schools and our community.” Sheriff Briese.
Earlier this month, a 17-year-old male student at Cassina High in Sonora was arrested for making a shooting threat against the school, as reported here. Sonora Police spokesperson Thomas Brickley tells Clarke Broadcasting that the department has heard of this challenge, but “currently no threats have been made.” He added, “We take these types of threats very seriously and will investigate any incident.”
We also reached out to Calaveras Sheriff’s officials, as just this week the Calaveras High campus in San Andreas was put on lockdown after a student made a threat against the school, as detailed here. Spokesperson Lt. Greg Stark responded that they have been working on some reports. He disclosed, “We are taking it seriously. We are going to provide extra patrols and we are going to be out there looking for anybody to cause harm to our students.”
These Tik Tok challenges are not new, but this one strikes a more dangerous tone. Past ones like “Devious Lick” encouraged students to steal paper towel dispensers or other items from the school. Another coaxed students to slap or hit their teachers. These acts are to be done with the student recording it and then posting to Tik Tok.
A threat of violence to a school can result in a felony arrest and eventual prison time, if convicted, stressed, Lt. Stark. He had this word of warning for anyone thinking of taking up the challenge, “The ones who think this is funny or a joke, it absolutely is not. To the ones who are reporting it to us, we thank you very much…There’s a lot of great kids out there that are alerting us to what’s going on and we’re working very closely with them. To the ones who are doing this, we will catch up with you.”
All these law enforcement officials we spoke with agreed the key to combating these threats is for the public to remember “if you see something say something.”
