Prank prompts probe

OTHELLO — Police investigating a believed social media threat determined the incident was a prank between teenage friends.

According to police, the department responded to a 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, call about a 13-year-old being threatened in a Snapchat group.

Two 13-year-olds and an unknown person were reported in the group, police said. The unknown person allegedly made threatening comments.

By 4 a.m., police had identified the teenagers and determined the unknown person was a friend of one of the 13-year-olds, records show.

“The friend was posting on Snapchat under a false account and the comments made were a prank and not serious,” police said on social media. “There is no reason to believe there is any risk to our schools from this incident.”

Police McFarland Middle School and notified administrators.

“Othello Police encourages all parents to closely monitor their children’s online activity, especially social media,” the department posted on social media.

“Unsupervised social media activity can often lead to actions that may seem humorous at the time, but are not.

“All messages containing any type of threat to school safety will be taken seriously.”