District says student made threatening statement at Southern Boone Middle School

ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)

A student made a "threatening statement" in class Wednesday morning at Southern Boone Middle School -- a school that has seen a spate of students arrested for alleged threats.

The incident happened at about 10:30 a.m., the district says in a message posted on its website, in a middle school classroom. The student was taken into custody for third-degree making a terrorist threat and juvenile authorities are handling the case, the district says.

"The Ashland Police Department wants to assure everyone that there is no evidence suggesting that the actions involved in this incident were premeditated. Additionally, no weapons were found on or near the student," the district says in a statement.

The district and police say they are prohibited by law from releasing other details.

This is the fourth arrest of a student -- all of whom attend the middle school -- in relation to threats in the Southern Boone School District this month. A student was arrested last Friday after police say they were “made aware of an Instagram account with content interpreted to be threatening and harassing to some SBS students, some of them by name.”

According to Ashland Police Chief Scott Young, police were made aware of the threat on Wednesday by the school.

Young said the department worked with the school district and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office Cyber Crimes Task Force to identify the suspect, which led to Friday's arrest.

Check back for updates to this developing story.