Shooting threat under investigation at Leesville Road High School

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Extra security met students at Leesville Road High School on Tuesday morning after someone wrote a threatening message on a bathroom wall.

School officials said they learned about a photo on Snapchat that was circulating among students Monday.

The post showed a photo of a threat written on a bathroom wall at the school.

The threat read: "Don't come to school 2-5-19 through 2-10-19. I'm going to shoot the Murphy." A main building on Leesville Road High School's campus is named the Murphy Building.

What's being called a copycat threat was then made to Heritage High School.

Tyler Wozniak saw the post circulating Snapchat. "You saw four cops pull out of the parking lot..a lot of administrators walking around the building," he said.

Leesville school leaders reported the threat to Raleigh Police Department, which is still investigating, and called parents to let them know about the investigation.

According to the nonprofit Educator's School Safety Network, North Carolina ranks ninth in the country in the number of school threats reported. Michigan ranks number one.

Nationwide, there were more than 3,375 threats in the 2017-2018 school year, which is a 62 percent increase from the previous year.

In 2018, 100 threats from individuals over age 16 were prosecuted by the state. Four of them were in Wake County.

District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said cases are prosecuted on a case by case basis, and that factors include the person's intent, access to weapons, and ability to carry out the threat.

"We deal with a fair amount of kids being kids, and kids doing stupid things. Unfortunately, we live in a time where these types of things can't be chalked up that way," said Freeman.

According to Wake County Public School System, the student responsible for the note will face school disciplinary action and criminal prosecution. Students with information about the message or the person who wrote it are asked to contact school leaders or Raleigh police officers.

An anonymous tip line has also been set up. That number is (919) 856-1911.