A spate of inquiries to law enforcement has prompted one local agency to reach out to the community it protects to calm unwarranted concerns.
A spokesman for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office issued an alert Wednesday morning about the topic.
"I am receiving a lot of inquiries about possible threats to our schools this morning. I thought it would be best to reach out to all of you at once to quell any rumors," Chris Hall, public relations officer at the Sheriff's Office, said.
A spokesman for the Lee County Sheriff's Office also said that agency was aware of a post circulating from TikTok in which a screen shot depicts generic threats with a list of schools located mainly in Georgia and other states. A Collier County Sheriff's Office official said the office was aware of the threats.
Charlotte County's Hall said there had been a recent uptick in social media “screen grabs” of generic threats that were posted.
"These posts could be from literally anywhere," he said in the alert. "What we are seeing is people are reacting and sharing these posts, which is creating confusion."
Hall said the Sheriff's Office, at this time, has "no evidence of any credible threats to any of our Charlotte County Schools and we are not aware of any of these 'screen grabs' mentioning our schools specifically."
The Sheriff's Office said it remains in close contact with Claudette Smith, PIO of Charlotte County Public Schools.
Additionally, he said, the agency's school resource officers are aware of the posts, and remained on the lookout for any indication of a threat on their campuses.
"There is no change in how they protect their respective areas. Again, we are not aware of any credible threats to any Charlotte County School at this time," Hall said.
The Sheriff's Office urged members of the community to report threats seen on social media rather than sharing or reposting them.
"We also cannot stress enough the importance of parents having serious conversations with their children about how and when to properly report something if they see or hear about a potential threat," he said. "It is critical that we all work together to dispel rumors, alleviate confusion, and above all, to protect the students of Charlotte County."
In Lee County, the LCSO said Dunbar High School was one of the schools on the list.
"Sheriff Carmine Marceno and members of LCSO continue to take a proactive approach to any kind of threat, especially when schools are involved," an email from the Lee County Sheriff's Office said. "Our Intelligence Unit, SRO's, School Threat Enforcement Team, and Patrol Bureau remain vigilant, and continue to look out for any indicators of a threat within our school system. At this juncture, there has been no evidence of a credible threat on our campuses within Lee County."
The LCSO missive urged members of the community to report any threats or suspicious activity regarding this to their local law enforcement agency or to LCSO.
In Collier, Karie Partington, Sheriff's Office Media Relations Bureau manager, said the agency has investigated and determined that they have no local connection.
"We have no information of a credible threat involving a Collier County school," she said.
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