TORRINGTON, Conn. — Bristol, Bridgeport and Torrington Public Schools will be closed Friday in response to circulating social media posts involving threats of violence.
In separate statements Thursday evening, the school districts said they made the decision to close the schools "out of an abundance of caution" and that they are working with police during their investigations.
Iris White, acting superintendent of Bristol Public Schools, said in a Facebook post that the district obtained information about a post on social media "describing a threat of a school shooting" at both Bristol High Schools.
The Bristol Police Department is investigating the threat, White said.
Bridgeport Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carmela Levy-David said in a statement that the district learned of multiple social media messages with threats of harm towards multiple schools in the district.
"We are working closely with local and federal law enforcement agencies in this situation," Levy-David said. "While we understand the inconvenience this may cause, the safety of our school community paramount."
Bridgeport police arrested a 13-year-old on Wednesday and the teen was charged with threatening.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said, "Keeping our residents safe is always a top priority of mine, and that includes our Bridgeport Public School students, staff members, and parents. A situation like this is of extreme concern and we take this very seriously. I want to express my gratitude to our Bridgeport Police Department for acting swiftly and making an arrest while also mitigating this issue in the most efficient way possible.”
The Torrington Police Department said that they were aware of multiple social media posts "implying or threatening violence" at Connecticut schools. Despite this, police said no credible threats have been found.
"We are aware of a post referencing a nearby school and we are assisting the Connecticut State Police with that investigation," Torrington police said.
In addition to Torrington Public Schools closing on Friday, as per the superintendent, police said they will have an increased presence at the schools "in the coming days."
Torrington police said that suspicious activity, threats of school violence made directly or in-directly or other concerning activity should be reported to local, state or federal law enforcement. Concerns can also be reported through the Connecticut Safe App or the Connecticut Homeland Security tip line at 1-877-HLS-TIPS.
Sean Humphrey is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at shumphrey@fox61.com
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