Death threats about Fauquier County high school student in gaming app spark investigation

BEALETON, Va. - Alleged death threats posted in a gaming app targeting at least one high school student in Fauquier County have sparked concern amongst parents.

Fauquier County Public Schools called the sheriff's office after learning about the threats which apparently involve students at Liberty High School in Bealeton, Virginia.

A concerned parent posted screen shots of a chat believed to be from a gaming app known as Discord. The thread, labeled Operation Will to Kill, included comments such as, "can we just kill him already," "espionage was always part of the plan, lynching him was just the end game," and "edgy idea - we wear masks and then right before he dies we take them off."

FOX 5 has received calls and emails from parents concerned about sending their children to school in the morning, Liberty High School sent a letter home to parents saying they have taken action to ensure the safety of all parties involved.

The sheriff's office said they have been actively investigating and interviewing people since Monday when they were notified about this.

"We're on the backs of the tragedy in Las Vegas and everybody is on edge and understandably so," Sgt. James Hartman with the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office said. "The statements or the posts that were made are disturbing but we're trying to determine at this point what was really behind all of this, what was the intent."

"We can't give students' specific information, but what I can say is we've taken active and affirmative steps to ensure that there are no safety risks in the school," Assistant Superintendent of Fauquier County Public Schools Frank Finn explained.

Officials said this was an important reminder for parents to try to be aware of all of the various forms of social media their children may be participating in.

While officials haven't said whether criminal charges will be filed, they said they do not believe there's any credible threat to students at Liberty High School.