GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Police Department arrested a 12-year-old boy in Chicopee on Friday following a social media post pertaining to a threat of violence at Greenfield Middle School.
Police responded and launched an investigation after the threat was reported by the parents of a student who saw it online. Acting Police Chief William Gordon said Chicopee Police detained the suspect and he was arrested by Greenfield officers at around 9 a.m. before being transported to the Greenfield Police Department, where he was reunited with his parents.
“The person and their parents were very cooperative with the Police Department,” Gordon said on Friday afternoon, “and the arrest was made without incident.”
Gordon said the suspect was formerly a student in Greenfield.
The case is being handed off to Greenfield Juvenile Court, where Gordon said the 12-year-old will face one felony charge. The acting chief stressed his department prefers not to arrest a child, but it was done in this case out of an abundance of caution for the community’s safety.
Gordon said this case exemplifies the importance of “see something, say something.” He declined to explain the specifics of the threat or the social media platform on which it was made.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 262.