Internet threat lands Wasilla teen in trouble

PALMER — A 16-year-old Colony High School student has been arrested for making threatening and violent statements in an Internet chat room.

The teen, whose identity was not released because of his age, allegedly entered an online chat Tuesday evening, made threats against the school and students, then left the chat, Alaska State Troopers report. Another CHS student was involved in the chat at the time and reported the incident.

With help from the Internet service provider, the source of the message was tracked to a computer to which the teen had access, said Megan Peters, spokeswoman for Alaska State Troopers. He has been charged with terroristic threatening and tampering with evidence for allegedly trying to delete the message.

The Internet threat comes on the heels of two other threats scrawled on bathroom walls at Colony High School, troopers report. On Oct. 18, graffiti threatening a shooting on Oct. 24, 25 or 26 at Colony was found on a bathroom wall. Parents were notified of the threat by letter the next day. A second message was reported Oct. 23.

Although the threat that was posted online and those were written on walls at the school were similar, troopers are continuing to investigate and haven’t determined if the 16-year-old may have made all of the threats, Peters said.

“We can’t substantiate the threats,” she said. “We have found nothing to [link] the threats, so it would be premature to guess something like that.”

Although school wasn’t canceled Oct. 24 — Oct. 25 and 26 were already scheduled as teacher-parent conference days and no classes were scheduled — many students elected not to attend, troopers report. Of the 1,149 students at Colony High School, 523 (45.5 percent) were absent Oct. 24. The three previous Wednesdays averaged 148 students (12.8 percent) absent.

Mat-Su Borough School District Superintendent George Troxel or other district administrators were unavailable to comment about the arrest, but Troxel confirmed Thursday there were no incidents at the school.

Faculty and staff are taking precautions to limit the chances of an incident happening at the school and do not take any threat, no matter how unlikely, for granted, Troxel said. Schedules and hall passes are being reviewed to make sure people are where they are supposed to be at any given time. Also, teachers, faculty and students are being asked if they have witnessed any abnormal behavior that might be related to the threats.

Troopers have had an increased presence at the school as well, Peters said.

The investigation to find a suspect in the computer threat included serving a series of search warrants to identify the correct Internet service provider and subscriber information, she said. That information led troopers to the teen’s Wasilla residence.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2268.