Trigg County one of many schools to receive multi-state threat on social media

Police kept a presence Friday at Trigg County schools in response to a non-specific threat posted to social media from Florida that was received by schools in Kentucky and other states.

School officials said the online threat did not refer to any school by name, and was sent to at least two other schools in Kentucky. 

The Trigg County Sheriff's office confirmed there was no specific threat to a local school. They said the FBI traced the original post back to Coral Springs, Florida, after it had spread through several states.

Classes continued on a normal schedule on Friday.

The online post was yet another version of the practice of "swatting," defined as the act of making prank calls or posts to authorities for the purpose of bringing a large response from law enforcement to a particular address, referring to police SWAT teams. The word was added to the Oxford Dictionary in 2015.

Swatting has become more widespread over the years, especially with the universal adoption of social media. Many states have written legislation to make swatting a felony.