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On Thursday night, December 12, 2019, the Philomath High School was the target of a potential attack communicated on social media.
A student’s Facebook account was hacked and used to distribute a threat toward their school.
At 2:00 am this morning our Computer Fonensics Detectives determined that the student’s Facebook account was indeed hacked. An IP address was traced to Colorado. Authorities in Colorado made contact with a 16-year-old male, who hacked the Facebook account and sent the threatening message. The individual admitted hacking the account and sending out the threatening message. The reason was to ‘troll’ the account on Friday, the 13th.
Benton County Sheriff’s Office and Philomath Police have confirmed that the threat toward PHS is a hoax.
School is open today and Philomath Police Department and the Benton County Sheriff’s Office are providing extra presence this morning.
The Philomath High School Principal has assured the parents and students that there is no threat toward the school. “It is unfortunate that such an event has touched our community,” Mike Bussard stated. “Rest assured our primary concern is the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community at large.”
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office takes these threats seriously and called in extra resources to resolve the issue quickly.