Police arrest 2 students after threats of gun violence at Carmel High School

Two Carmel High School students were arrested Monday in connection with gun violence threats made on social media Friday, police said.

Both male teens, whose identities were not released by police, are now facing charges of intimidation, a level 6 felony.

The Carmel Police Department announced the arrests in a press release around 11:40 p.m. Monday, hours before students would return to the high school Tuesday morning following a long holiday weekend.

"All evidence supports these social media threats were fabricated by both juveniles and they had no means to carry out the threats," police said in the release.

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After Florida shooting: Indiana schools see a rush of reported gun threats

Earlier: Snapchat threats about gun violence at Carmel High School are being investigated by police

However, the release said police plan to have an "increased presence" around the high school on Tuesday and officers are continuing to investigate "further leads."

The district announced school would stay in session hours before police announced the arrests.

The public was made aware of these new threats, deemed "credible" by police, on Saturday. School Principal Tom Harmas sent an email to parents saying the threats had been distributed through Snapchat.

"We sincerely thank our students, staff, parents and community members who have been quick to report these Snapchats," he said in his email Saturday.

Two days earlier, on Thursday, Harmas sent a very different video message to parents and students in an attempt to squash rumors of shooting threat he said "was never made." Parents feared a threat had been made about a supposed convocation last Friday and circulated a Snapchat video of a student showing off a row of magazines.

Harmas said there never was a convocation scheduled for Friday, and that the rumored threat started from an innocent group text conversation among students. School spokesperson Courtney Taylor said the Snapchat video was unrelated and found not to be a credible threat by police.

At least four other people have been arrested around the state as school districts see a rush of reported violent threats in the days following the Florida school shooting. At least 10 Indiana districts have investigated either a real or rumored copycat threat since Feb. 14, something the state's schools safety director called a "contagion effect."

Last week, 17 people were killed in Florida when police said 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School armed with a semiautomatic assault weapon.

Call IndyStar reporter Emma Kate Fittes at (317) 513-7854. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

