35-year-old Roanoke man arrested after making threats to local schools on Snapchat

ROANOKE, Va. – An adult has been arrested after he allegedly posted threatening messages to local schools on Snapchat, according to the FBI.

We’re told 35-year-old Stephen Johnson of Roanoke was arrested on a federal criminal complaint after the investigation by Roanoke Police and the FBI.

Johnson is now facing a federal charge of communicating in interstate commerce a threat to injure another person, as well as a Class 6 felony charge of threats toward schools.

Authorities said several threatening messages were posted to a Snapchat group on the evening of Feb. 21. The group was used by Patrick Henry High School students.

One of the threats made involved a school shooting, authorities said.

The Snapchat group requires users to register with a Gmail address, and investigators were able to trace the threats back to Johnson’s account.

Federal investigators say Johnson’s Snapchat accounts were also associated with Roanoke City student email addresses:

Both of these Snapchat accounts were also associated with student email addresses from Roanoke City Public Schools. One account belonged to a tenth grader at Patrick Henry High School; the other belonged to a second grader at an elementary school. Law enforcement does not have reason to believe that either of these individuals are involved in making threatening conduct. Rather, it appears that student email addresses were used in order to access the relevant Snapchat school “communities.”’

As we reported previously, the Roanoke City school system was closed on Thursday out of an abundance of caution after the threats were made.

Police presence was upped at Montgomery County schools on Thursday after those threats made their way to the NRV.

“At this point, it appears all of the posts being shared in our community, are the same posts that originated in Roanoke City,” Christiansburg Police said. “It seems that through social media, these posts are circulating through several communities.”

Roanoke Police released additional information Thursday evening, saying additional anonymous threats were made toward RCPS after Johnson was taken into custody. Police say those threats were “copycat” threats.

Roanoke City Public Schools will be closed on Friday, Feb. 23, as authorities continue to investigate those additional threats.

The investigation is ongoing and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Brett is prosecuting the case.