Six juveniles are being criminally charged for their roles in creating and/or publicly sharing threatening information involving the Valparaiso schools, according to police, and the investigation is ongoing.

The juveniles are being detained at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center.

The events, according to a release from Capt. Joe Hall, public information officer for the Valparaiso Police Department, began to unfold on the morning of Sept. 12 when Valparaiso police and Valparaiso Community Schools were made aware of a possible threat of violence at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

The potential threat was alleged to have been said by one student and was directed to the school in general. The statement was immediately investigated by the Valparaiso police and school staff and found to have no credibility, as no proof that the statement occurred could be verified.

Over the past week, the Valparaiso community has been alarmed to hear of threats within the schools, causing panic, stress and worry. Several similar situations have been noted in other communities within Northwest Indiana and across the country during this time, Hall said.

Portage Township also has faced school threats that were not deemed credible, police there have said.

Later during the school day on Sept. 12, as the Valparaiso schools were dismissed, a reference to the original threat was relayed by a student to a staff member, which led the staff member to believe a threat may be imminent. Out of caution, the staff member secured a few athletic teams in their respective locker rooms, which led to further conjecture about what was occurring and false information to be relayed, Hall said.

Numerous calls to the Porter County 911 Center were also made and concerned parents began to arrive at the school because of the misinformation and subsequent partial lockdown.

As police and school staff investigated the first incident, they learned of an additional threat circulating on social media, including a potential list of students that were to be harmed, Hall said.

The “list” continued to be publicly disseminated by other students on social media, with additional names and phrases being included with each share.

The investigation remains open and continues to be led by the Valparaiso Police Department in conjunction with Valparaiso Community Schools, Hall said.

“VPD would further encourage parents and students alike to consider the danger of publicly sharing unconfirmed information across social media. Rather, we would like to stress the importance of notifying authorities immediately upon viewing such materials,” Hall said in the release. “We would further like to thank our community for their continued support as investigations such as this can take time to gather details and examine all the evidence.”