NORTH PORT, Fla. - The North Port Police Department says it is ramping up patrols and law enforcement presence at city schools as social media posts circulate, vaguely claiming December 17 is a day to do harm.
Earlier Thursday, the Citrus County School District addressed a viral TikTok trend that threatens violence at schools across the country. The school district asked students and parents to report threats to law enforcement, but to refrain from re-posting them online.
The North Port Police Department posted a statement on Twitter Thursday night, saying its officers were joining law enforcement across the country to keep a "close eye on schools in the wake of nationwide generic school threat conversations."
"The North Port Police Department is aware of the information. We take all threats, joking or not, seriously. The consequences are severe. School staff and security are aware of these generic threats and are also on the lookout for suspicious or concerning activity," the statement said.
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NPPD urged parents to talk to children about the seriousness of making threats or false claims online, adding that doing so could result in a child being removed from school.
"Out of an abundance of caution, NPPD will have additional resources at North Port schools Friday," NPPD said. "Please, if you see something, say something. Thank you for the continued partnership in keeping our great city safe."
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Hernando County School District, and Highlands County Sheriff's Office echoed the plea to not share any social media posts that threaten schools or individuals.
"Sharing unfounded threats on social media rewards those who intend to create panic and can divert tremendous resources away from law enforcement and the school district," Hernando school administrators said. "If you see or hear something, say something. Alert law enforcement right away. But please don't post."
TikTok addressed the threats on their platform in a tweet Thursday afternoon, writing, "We handle even rumored threats with utmost seriousness, which is why we're working with law enforcement to look into warnings about potential violence at schools even though we have not found evidence of such threats originating or spreading via TikTok."