Social media post about Geneva High School deemed not a threat: police

A Wednesday night social media post about Geneva High School turned out to be a misunderstanding, police said.

Geneva School District 304 sent a message to Geneva High School parents late Wednesday about an increased police presence outside the school Thursday after what a parent thought was a threatening post, according to Geneva Police Department Deputy Chief Brian Maduzia.

No threat of violence was made against the school in the post, Maduzia said.

“The initial post on Snapchat said, ‘You’re invited to 15 mins at GHS stay tuned,’” Maduzia said, referring to an app called “15mins: Be Famous Instantly.” On the app, users can livestream themselves to all app users for 15 minutes.

“It’s an app where you can record yourself and get your 15 minutes of fame,” he said.

Maduzia said someone “purported” that it meant there would be 15 minutes of terror at the school. He said officers met with the concerned parent Wednesday night before interviewing five students.

“We couldn’t identify the original poster, but out of an abundance of caution, we had our school resource officer inside the building, and three additional officers outside the school just to make sure nothing happened this morning,” he said. “Nothing has happened as of 9 a.m. [Thursday], and we don’t feel there is a threat to the school or the general public.”

The police department works with the district on threat assessments to determine if any potential threat made against a school is credible, Maduzia said.

“The district has certain criteria to determine if a threat is valid, and they can contact us if they want us to get involved, and we try to do our due diligence,” he said.