UK authorities charge man in schools threat

[February 09, 2013]  LONDON (AP) -- Authorities in northern England have charged a 24 year-old man with threatening to kill 200 people in a Facebook posting that caused thousands of Tennessee children to stay home from school.

Northumbria police say Reece Elliott, 24, from South Shields, east of Newcastle, has been charged with making malicious comments which led to 2,900 children skipping class in Warren County, Tennessee.

Police were stationed this week at schools in McMinnville, the seat of Warren County, 70 miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Chattanooga.

The online posting threatening gun violence was made anonymously on a memorial page set up for a Tennessee student who died in October. Police did not address the motive behind the posting.

Northumbria police said in a statement Saturday that they were cooperating with authorities in Warren County.

[Associated Press]

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