Fake Facebook profile used in hoax threatening Harris County High

Published 11:30 am Saturday, August 27, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

After a swift investigation, recent threats discovered targeting Harris County High School (HCHS) were determined to be a hoax involving a student’s stolen identity, according to a press release from the school district.

HCHS administrators learned of threats made on multiple online chat sites late Thursday night and law enforcement, including the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were contacted to investigate the threat and keep students safe.

Additional officers were on campus on Friday morning and regular school resource officers were placed on alert.

While working with the FBI, local authorities were able to confirm the post is identical to at least five online threats made to other schools and the threat is a hoax.

According to a press release from the Harris County School District, the suspect responsible for the hoax randomly chose names from Instagram accounts, stealing the identity of a male HCHS student to create a fake threat.

The threatening post listed the school, as well as the names of specific students as potential targets.

The school district has confirmed that there is absolutely no threat to HCHS or any HCHS students and all the students named are safe, including the student whose identity was stolen.

He and the other students mentioned in the post are all victims of the hoax, said the school district in a press release.