Threat to U.S. high school traced to Ontario teen

American authorities say a 14-year-old girl in Brantford, Ont., has been charged with threatening a high school in New Hampshire.

Police in Hanover, N.H., say they learned about an Instagram post early Tuesday morning that threatened Hanover High School and mentioned a shooting.

Hanover police said in a news release they discovered the social media threat came from Brantford, a community of about 97,000 people, 30 kilometres west of Hamilton. Local police arrested the girl, seized electronic devices and are pursuing charges.

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The girl posted an Instagram messagedirectly to some students at the school, who then shared it with other students, according investigators.It was eventually shared with school officials and police.

The message stated "wanting people to get shot," according to Lt. Scott Rathburn of the Hanover police.

He said investigators "haven't yet found a connection between the students or Hanover" and the girl, Rathburn toldCBCNews.

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Police in Brantford were contacted yesterday and are working "hand in hand" with investigators in Hanover, according to Brantford Police Service spokesperson, Const. Shane Seibert.

Seibert said the teen has been charged with with one count ofuttering threats to cause bodily harm.

He said she was held for a bail hearing. The investigation continues.

Teens charged

The threat came a day after provincial police announced charges against five tweens and teens with threatening schools in Ontario since last month's massacre at a Florida high school.

Sgt. Peter Leon of the Ontario Provincial Police said those accused also used Instagram.

Experts have said online threats tend to spike after high-profile school shootings. Aimee Morrison, a professor of digital media at the University of Waterloo said Tuesday that some teens make threats on social media in an attempt to gain notoriety and garner a larger following.