(West Des Moines, Iowa/KCCI) – West Des Moines Police today (Friday) announced five students will be charged in a series of threats made at Stilwell Junior High (in W. Dsm). Since Dec. 10, police have been investigating several social media and spoken threats of possible violence. According to police, two students have been charged with felony terrorism and three more have been charged with first-degree harassment.

In a West Des Moines P-D news release, authorities said “Although these threats were not carried out, the seriousness of the crimes and the disruption of the school and the learning environment were factors taken into account when criminal charges were filed. On Friday specifically, these social media threats quickly caused parents to be concerned which led to an overwhelming amount of phone calls made to the school and parents arriving at the school to remove their children. Accordingly, the School Resource Officer from the West Des Moines Police Department worked directly with staff at Stilwell to investigate these threats as quickly as possible in order to maintain order and the safety of the students and staff.”

Police said the students charged are all under the age of 18, so none of their names will be released.