UPDATE: Former Michigan man's alleged Twitter threats to kill kids, Jews intercepted and led to arrest

KALISPELL, MT -- A former Grand Rapids man is accused of using Twitter and another social media platform to threaten school children and Jews in Montana.

David Joseph Lenio, 28, was arrested about 4:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 16 at a ski slope in the Kalispell, which is about two hours north of Missoula.

He is held on a charge of malicious intimidation/harassment in the Flathead County Jail.

Police tracked down Lenio after a worker with the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence notified authorities that a Twitter poster was making threats.

Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset said the social media posts made general threats that talked about killing students and harming Jews.

"There were several references to Jews," he said. "And there were several about killing students."

It's not clear how long Lenio had lived in Kalispell. Nasset said he believes he moved into the northern Montana city less than two months ago.

The Twitter account allegedly used by Lenio has been suspended.

Nasset said police learned of the threats about 11 p.m. Sunday and about a dozen officers, as well as three FBI agents, began to immediately work on the case.

He said the threats made were general in nature and did not target any specific school.

Because of President's Day, several schools in the area already were closed Monday and police did not have to take preventative action.

But at least two went on a "soft lockdown" because of the situation, he said.

When Lenio was arrested, he was sent for a mental evaluation. He remains in the Flathead County Jail and could be arraigned as early as Wednesday.

Police conducted a search warrant at his residence, although it wasn't clear what was seized. Lenio's father, when reached at this Grand Rapids home Tuesday night, declined to comment on his son and the allegations against him.

Nasset said Lenio allegedly posted several tweets about being homeless, yet police determined he was renting a place in the Kalispell area with a roommate.

He said police needed to take the threats seriously because of the potential for harm to others.

"I wouldn't assign half of my department and have the county sheriff and the FBI working on it otherwise. I'd say we took it pretty seriously," the chief said.

In a blog for the Southern Poverty Law Center, called "Hatewatch," a spokesman for the Brady Campaign described how he discovered Lenio's alleged Twitter account.

Jonathan Hutson said he discovered the account, since Thursday, had tweeted comments about "taking out" a whole classroom and "scoring" at least 30 students.

Hutson also told Hatewatch that the Twitter user threatened to "shoot up a school" and a synagogue and put "two in the head" of a rabbi or Jewish leader.

E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/johntunison