Foley Police question high school student over social media message

FOLEY, Ala. (WALA) - FOX10 News has learned that the Foley Police Department is investigating a threat made by a Foley High School student on social media.

The threat was that people would be shot and Foley Police said an item posted on the social networking site Twitter on Tuesday caused them to take action quickly.

Foley Police Chief David Wilson said the investigation was opened on Tuesday after the department recieved information about the threatening social media comments.

"The comment was something along the lines of, tomorrow, which is today, people would be shot, and he had added an icon of a pistol to the social media, and that's scary stuff, especially in light of what happened in Connecticut," Wilson said.  

He said said officers immediately responded.

He said, "Anytime we receive a threat like that, we jump on it pretty quick. We called him in and interviewed him. We always try to get to their house and check their personal belongings, some of their personal items, to see if we can find proof if that's what they're really thinking of, or if they've just making a very stupid comment on social media at a terrible time, and thats what we think has happened."

One thing police want to emphasize is incidents like this aren't cute, and they're not funny: they're serious business.

Wilson said, "We take it very serious. There's nothing more precious than our children, and I think every parent in the United States is feeling that right now."

No arrests have been made, and no problems were reported at Foley High School Wednesday. School system officials said the campus was not on lockdown at any time.