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Police dealing with rumors, threats in area schools

JANESVILLE — Police in Janesville and Milton are dealing with threats—and rumors of threats—at local schools.

In Janesville, investigators found nothing of substance in a rumored threatening text message passed between students at Parker High School on Tuesday, Sgt. Anne Brophy said.

Two juveniles created a text message indicating they weren't coming to school for fear of a predicted apocalypse as a result of the end of the Mayan calendar on Friday, Dec. 21, Brophy said. The message was mixed up with concerns about last week's shooting in Newtown, Conn., and forwarded to a number of teens.

Investigators determined the text message was not a threat, Brophy said. No one was taken into custody.

In Milton, the school district and the police department also found nothing of substance in a rumor that started Monday afternoon.

The rumor stated that a student or students had threatened to bring a firearm to school Friday.

"To be clear, there is no evidence of any threat being made, and it was simply a rumor," the news release said.

The Janesville School District sent a message Tuesday to parents that stated the responsible parties had been identified and the situation addressed, according to a news release from the district.