Oregon High School Student Used Snapchat To Threaten Classmate With Shooting, Arrested

An 18-year-old student from Lebanon High School (LHS) in Lebanon, Oregon, was arrested Sunday afternoon after he threatened to shoot two of his peers with a rifle on a Snapchat video. The student was identified as Nathan Dale Tomlin by the authorities.

The Snapchat video showed him holding a rifle with rounds of ammunition, according to Lebanon police department’s official statement, Daily Mail reported.

Police also said Tomlin allegedly made threats to two other LHS students and also supposedly identified who each round of ammunition was for.

The police statement read though Tomlin admitted to making the video, he clarified he did not intend to shoot anyone.

“When officers arrived at his residence, Tomlin admitted to making the video. Nathan Tomlin stated that he wasn’t being serious and didn’t have intentions of shooting anyone,” according to the Daily Mail.

Tomlin was taken into custody by the authorities and is being held at Wilson County Jail. He was also charged with two counts of harassment, according to a report in the Tennessean, a daily newspaper based in Nashville, Tennessee. The rifle he used to threaten his classmates was also confiscated by the police.

The Tennessean report added the conditions of Tomlin’s release include he won’t be allowed to be on LHS property. Matt McPeak, the school resource officer, was also notified of the same. The police department also said necessary precautions are being taken to ensure the safety of LHS’ students.

“Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan and his staff are taking every precaution to ensure the safety of all LHS students and will be working with our department to monitor the situation. There is no perceived threat to any of the student body or staff of LHS at this time," they said.

Police officers are also going to be present at the school as a precautionary measure, Buzz News reported.

Interestingly, this is not the first case of a student being charged for issuing threats on social media.

Police arrested a 17-year-old student of Garner Magnet High School in August and charged him with issuing a threat to students and teachers on Snapchat, according to a report in WRAL-TV, a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina.

According to the authorities, the suspect who was identified as Judah Alexander Dennis, a resident of Garner, a town in Wake County, made posts on Snapchat that showed a gun, used threatening language and issued threats to students and teachers. Dennis faced a single charge of making a false report concerning mass violence on educational property, which is a felony, the report said. Dennis who appeared in court for his crime was told by the judge he could be facing up to 39 months in prison if he was convicted.

Speaking of the arrest and Dennis’ crime, his grandmother, Wanda Wilkerson said Dennis had always stayed out of serious trouble before the Snapchat incident.

"He has never been in trouble. He has been in school and he has done very well in his school. What he thought was a joke now has the ability to stay as a stigma in his life. So I just want to admonish, young people and parents, please make sure of what your children are doing on the internet," she said.