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KPD investigating two school shooting threats in one week in Knox County

One threat was made using an anonymous app.

Knoxville Police are investigating anonymous two threats made against two schools in Knox County this week.

The first used an anonymous app called 'Feednoly' claiming anonymously that someone would bring a gun to Bearden High School on Friday, October 5th.

The second came from a anonymous text via what appears to be a short messaging service to students at South Doyle Middle School.

Law enforcement brought in extra officers to the schools Friday to make sure students and staff were safe. Knox County School Superintendent Bob Thomas released the following statement about the threats:

"I want to thank the Knoxville Police Department, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and our School Security Division, as well as our administrators and staff, for the tremendous job they’ve done to help address various online threats that were intercepted this week. It goes without saying that we want our schools to be as safe as they can be so learning at the highest level can take place. Without reservation, we will investigate with our law enforcement partners every threat that we are made aware of. This, however, takes away valuable time, resources and energy that could be put to better use. We owe it to our families, staff and the community to make sure these types of threatening behaviors are met with the most serious of consequences. I encourage our families to talk with their children about the importance of being mindful of what they post online. I appreciate everyone’s support and patience as we work to keep our schools safe."

Knoxville Police department has not released any details on its investigation, but said in a statement:

"There are always new apps being introduced, it's the nature of how social media is these days. We have investigators that are aware of the different trends and apps that are used and we are constantly training on the way apps work and how people communicate."

The app used in the threat against Bearden allows anonymous users to send messages to the masses. Tech expert Luke Wood said threats were not the app's intention.

“The creators of this Feednoly app says it’s intended for corporations and no one under the age of 17 should be using it. But that’s not what’s ending up happening.”

Wood says with so many apps created each day, parents have to watch their children closely.

“This one will probably be gone in two weeks, then they’ll be another one," he said. "Look at your kids phone look what’s on there. Don’t just trust that they’ll make the right decision because they won’t always know what the right decision is or see the danger in apps like this.”

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