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Great Bridge High student charged with firearms violations in relation to circulating social media posts

Posted at 10:24 AM, Sep 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-27 18:05:39-04

CHESAPEAKE, Va. - A Great Bridge High School student has now been charged in relation to several social media posts made Sunday that have circulated over the past several days.

The student was also charged with four fire-related felonies from incidents that occurred at or near Great Bridge High School over the past several months.

Parents and students raised concerns Monday after social media posts made by the student started circulating. The posts appeared to show the student with guns and making threats toward the school.

However, Chesapeake Public Schools and Chesapeake Police told News 3 on Monday and Tuesday that although they were looking into the matter, they did not believe the posts to be direct threats.

CPS says the Great Bridge High School School Resource Office was notified on Sunday about the posts on social media.

Chesapeake Police sent several additional units to the school on Monday as a precaution to patrol the area.

CPS says the student was not charged or arrested for anything threat-related because the posts did not meet the criteria for a criminal charge.

In a letter sent to parents on Tuesday, the principal of Great Bridge High School says the student who made threatening posts through social media is not allowed to come back to school.

Since then, CPS says other posts and videos have since been discovered and the student was charged late Tuesday with two misdemeanor counts of Underage Possession of a Firearm and Discharging a Firearm within City Limits.

Those offenses occurred Sunday in the 200 block of Golden Maple Drive.

The student was detained on Tuesday night and is being held at Chesapeake Juvenile Services for unrelated charges secured by the Chesapeake Fire Department.

One of the incidents occurred in the parking lot of Great Bridge High School on August 28.

Chesapeake Fire Department spokesman Captain Scott Saunders tells News 3 the student and several other juveniles were involved in making/throwing a Molotov device in the school parking lot.

In another incident on September 1, the student was caught burning a Port-O-John on Hanbury Road, in a residential development under construction not far from the school.

For those incidents, the student has been charged with four felonies -- two counts of Manufacturing or Possessing Fire Bombs or Explosive Materials, Burning of Personal Property over $200, and Conspiracy to Commit a Felony.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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Chesapeake parents raise concerns over threatening social media posts

Authorities: Little truth to circulating rumors of threats to Great Bridge High School