Charlottesville Shuts Down Schools After Racist Threat

Charlottesville, Virginia, site of the 2017 white nationalist rally that left a counter-protester dead, is now dealing with another high-profile racial issue. The city school district closed all schools Thursday and Friday after an online threat emerged against black and Latino students, reports the Daily Progress. After a post on the 4chan forum Wednesday warned white students to stay home from Charlottesville High School to avoid a mass shooting, the district closed all schools as a cautionary move. On Friday, police arrested a 17-year-old male, and he now faces felony charges over the online threat, reports NBC News.

He has not been identified, and police have not said whether he is a student at the high school. In a separate development, the Albermarle County Police Department also arrested a teen over online threats made to Albermarle High School. (Charlottesville is located within Albermarle County.) These threats emerged after the ones in Charlottesville, and police said they are exploring whether it was a copycat incident. Albermarle did not close its schools, but all had an increased police presence on Friday. (More Charlottesville, Va. stories.)