JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — With most students still only just a few weeks into the new school year, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents and school leaders are working to help combat the online threats of violence.

"This is a kind of vandalism,” said Dr. Kevin Whitaker, superintendent, Jamestown Public Schools. “It is a social media vandalism. It's a community and culture vandalism.”

What You Need To Know

  • There has been an uptick in the number of online threats to schools

  • The city of Jamestown is one of the latest to urge people to report, not repost

  • FBI agents say people making threats could face serious consequences

Jamestown Public Schools in Chautauqua County is one of the latest in a long line of districts across the state receiving online threats of violence.

Whitaker is urging parents and students to notify the school or police immediately once they read a threatening post, and not launch it back into social media.

"Our duty is to keep kids safe,” said Whitaker. “It is critical to report if you see something. One of the challenges we have is that students tend to repost. So, instead of reposting, we wish people would report.”

Whitaker says the threat and the nerves that go with it serves as a distraction to students, teachers and staff. 

"The continuation, multiple times of these sorts of things happening, takes your attention away from your mission,” said Whitaker. “And so it causes a lot of effort to be given about something that you really shouldn't be spending your time on.”

"Across the state and across the nation, we've seen an uptick," said Mark Grimm, criminal assistant special agent in charge, FBI Buffalo.

FBI agents are echoing that warning not to repost a threat, as it becomes difficult to trace it back to the original sender.

Grimm says investigating threats, which are usually not credible, take a toll on the limited number of agents pulled from their regular assignments.  

"We don't have a squad that works specifically on school threats, so we're taking agents that have other resources and other priorities to work these threats. So, it can be very disruptive," said Grimm.

The penalty for those caught making the threat can range from getting a school suspension to being charged with making a terroristic threat.

"There are potential real-world consequences for making them,” said Grimm. “There are consequences for you, potentially for your family and certainly for you at your school.”

Whitaker is calling on all communities to help solve the problem. 

"I'm very disappointed in that very small segment of our society, who wishes to find entertainment for themselves by scaring other people," said Whitaker.