Police: Beaver Co. Teen Responsible For Online Hate Crime Threat
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police say they have traced an online threat warning about a hate crime in Pittsburgh to a teenager in Beaver County.
Authorities called the incident disruptive and caused fear for local hospital workers.
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"When you talk about how disruptive this was, it was extremely disruptive. You have workers afraid for their safety," said Pittsburgh Police spokesperson Chris Togneri.
The threat said it would be carried out Wednesday, and was posted on Twitter on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh Police used its Intel Unit with the help of the FBI and state police to track the threat to Beaver County.
"We also reached out to some social media companies to help with investigation," said Cmdr. Eric Holmes, with Pittsburgh Police.
Police said they were also able to track the teen down using an IP address.
UPDATE: @PghPolice trace threat to Beaver County. Police interviewed a male juvenile and his family this morning and determined the teen had no intention to carry out the threat. pic.twitter.com/7Uf5VkbnH9
— Amy Wadas (@AmyWadas) September 4, 2019
The teen and his family were interviewed Wednesday morning and it was determined he had no intentions to carry out this threat, but police view the threat to be very serious regardless of its intentions.
"What's going on nationally and locally people were one edge, and rightfully so, and we want to thank the Pittsburgh community. We received a lot of phone calls, a lot of people called 911. They really took to heart 'See something, say something,'" said Cmdr. Holmes.
Multiple hospitals were told about the threat and took necessary measures to make sure everyone was safe.
Both UPMC and Allegheny Health Network issued statements regarding the incident.
UPMC says: "UPMC was notified by authorities that the threat communicated via social media last night was determined to be non-credible. All further updates on this matter will come from
@PghPolice."
An AHN spokesperson says they are referring everyone to law enforcement for any official announcement about the case.
An @AHNtoday spokesperson says they are referring to law enforcement for any official announcement about the case.
— Amy Wadas (@AmyWadas) September 4, 2019
University of Pittsburgh Police kept their eyes open to make sure students, faculty and staff were safe.
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto also tweeted about the incident Tuesday night, saying: "Pittsburgh Police has been on this since mid-afternoon. They are working with all hospitals & federal agencies to determine and identify. We have established coordinated operations within hours of this posting. To keep updated follow @PghPublicSafety for any possible updates."
"You can't be making jokes like that. These are people's lives you're dealing with. It's serious," said Pitt freshman Joe Maciolek.
"Now it's at a point you can't tell a real situation from a fake one," said Pitt sophomore Dawson Winston.
Paul Shapiro works at Western Psych in Oakland.
"That's the world we are living in today," said Shapiro.
The teen is cooperating with police.
