West Fargo Police Chief talks credibility of social media threats targeting schools

Image by: West Fargo Police Department
Image by: West Fargo Police Department

(West Fargo, ND) -- The West Fargo Police Department reviewed a "Tik Tok challenge" which appeared on the social media app Friday.  The department determined it not pose a credible threat to schools in the West Fargo District. 

"You know we think it is really important that we are able to give a timely and accurate assessment to the school districts so they can make the decisions whether they should send kids to school that day or not, so they can communicate with those families," said Police Chief Dennis Otterness.

Otterness spoke on the topic Friday during WDAY's Coffee Club.  Without getting into specifics, the Chief said the department has tools that allow them to quickly determine whether an online threat originates locally or from somewhere else.  He said that generally threats coming from outside the area do not generate the same level of concern as those that might come from local social media users.