Sixty Michigan schools have closed amid
threats of shooting following the Oxford High School shooting, Oakland County
Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.

Bouchard, however, said he “anticipated a
flood of false threats”. The FBI and the Secret
Service have joined to help assess claims, he said.

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“I don’t know what’s in people’s minds to
make them think that after a real tragedy it makes sense to make false
threats,” Bouchard was quoted as saying by Los Angeles Times. “It is ridiculous
that you’re inflaming the fears and passion of parents and teachers and the
community in the midst of a real tragedy.”

Bouchard was joined Thursday afternoon by
Oakland County Executive David Coulter, prosecutor Karen McDonald, area police
chiefs, school superintendents and FBI officials to discuss the “tidal wave” of
copycat threats in the wake of the Oxford shooting that killed four students
and injured seven people.

‘False threat of terrorism’

“A false threat of terrorism is a felony,
it’s a 20-year felony. We will charge it and we will hold people accountable,”
McDonald said.

Bouchard said his department is
investigating the threats, which he said affected schools as far as Bay City.
The sheriff added that none of the threats was credible.

The announcement came after numerous Metro
Detroit school districts have cancelled classes or dealt with a deluge of
students seeking to leave schools amid reports of social media messages that
some have interpreted as threatening similar violence.

Authorities in Southfield, Sterling Heights
and Flint said they made arrests tied to school threats.

In Troy, the school district cancelled
Thursday classes after learning of a Snapchat message of a rumoured threat to a
school in Rochester or Troy.

Similarly, Holly Area Schools “received
multiple reports of a potential shooting threat” on social media late
Wednesday, sparking an investigation by the Holly Police Department.

Warren Consolidated Schools, Walled Lake
Consolidated School District, Rochester Community Schools, Bloomfield Hills and
Huron Valley Schools, among others, closed Thursday for similar reasons. West
Bloomfield School District shut down activities and closed schools through
Friday.

Other districts said they were aware of
threats and were increasing safety measures but chose not to cancel classes.
Detroit Country Day School and Berkley School District were among those to
remain open.

Also Read: Gun was ‘freely available’ to Michigan shooter, prosecutor says

In Southfield, a 17-year-old is accused of
bringing a gun to school Wednesday and in Sterling Heights, a girl was arrested
after making threats against Sterling Heights Stevenson High School,
authorities said.

On Wednesday, Oxford High School sophomore
Ethan Crumbley was arraigned on 24 counts tied to the Tuesday shooting at the
school.