Law enforcement weighs in on social media influence and school threats

FARMINGTON, N.M. – Teens writing threatening posts on social media or making hoax calls to schools, are examples of threats of violence surrounding schools, and they’ve become familiar headlines to us all. Many of these cases start online. “It’s become easier to take a picture of a weapon on Snapchat,” said Kyle Dowdy, deputy chief of the Farmington Police Department. “We live in a day and age where students, especially, they’re going to want to document what they are doing.” Once it’s out there, that information spreads. “The pictures start to get circulated around school, and then it becomes a…