The West Melbourne threat referenced the Palm Bay incident

Police in Palm Bay and West Melbourne responded to two schools Friday to assure students, staff and parents they were not in danger after threats of "mass casualties" circulated through social media.

They determined the threats to Central Middle School in West Melbourne and Southwest Middle School in Palm Bay were not credible.

The Palm Bay threat initially was reported to police around 8 p.m. Thursday evening. A similar threat happened in West Melbourne Friday morning.

Palm Bay detectives and officers spent Thursday night investigating the first message that targeted Southwest Middle School, working alongside the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

"A massacre is coming. I have planned this for two years staying in this hellhole," the threat said, according to Lt. Mike Bandish, Palm Bay Police Department spokesman. There was an increased law enforcement presence at the school Friday as a precaution.

One student in particular, a girl identified only by her initials, was mentioned in the message. Detectives questioned students at the school with those initials.

"We currently have no suspects, and we don't have a real potential victim at this point," Bandish said.

The second threat was about a shooting.

"The Police Department received a threat regarding a possible shooting at Central Middle School," stated a news release from West Melbourne Police Department. "Our departments are working together with the FBI and do not believe this threat to be credible. A strong police presence will be precautionary."

Detectives determined both threats came through the app Sarahah, which allows users to anonymously send messages to specific users and has been used for bullying and harassment since its inception. Sarahah uses servers located in different countries all around the world, making anonymous messengers nearly impossible to trace, according to Bandish.

The West Melbourne threat referenced the Palm Bay incident, Brevard Public Schools spokesman Matt Reed said.

Police do not know to whom the anonymous messages were directed and only saw them after they were shared secondhand on Snapchat.

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Friday morning saw sparse attendance due to the threat, with an empty bike rack, slow car loop and nearly empty buses arriving at Southwest Middle.



Reports from Brevard Public Schools showed that 595 students were absent at Southwest Middle School out of the student body of 842, putting attendance at right around 30 percent for the day. Final attendance numbers from Central Middle School were not available, but up to 60 students had been checked out before noon.

Bandish said those making the threats could at least face felony charges, which could include federal charges.

Police emphasize all threats should be reported to law enforcement, especially those indicating potential terrorist attacks or mass casualties.

"Be diligent. Protect your kids," Bandish said. "We will do everything to protect our children in this community. We don't want to be scared to live in our own community."

Contact Vazquez at tvazquez@floridatoday.com, 321-917-7491 or on Twitter @tyler_vazquez.