HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A 15-year-old was taken into police custody in connection to a social media post that incited a riot at Tiyan High School.
On Wednesday, the Guam Police Department announced the arrest of the teenager two weeks after they learned about social media posts that incited a riot at Tiyan High School on Oct. 1.
According to a news release issued by police spokesperson Officer Berlyn Savella, the social media posts came from a private Instagram account bearing a fictitious name.
The next day, officers from the Criminal Investigation Division, GPD’s central precinct and Special Operations Division’s SWAT team responded to the school to provide security during school hours.
Detectives subsequently launched a terroristic conduct investigation and interviewed multiple students from the school.
“Over the next few days, detectives were informed by Guam Department of Education personnel and a parent that more social media posts inciting a riot to occur at the school were published, but from a different Instagram account and appeared to be a continuation of the earlier social media post which prompted detectives to initiate additional case investigations for threats of violence, inciting of a riot to occur at the school and two separate assaults connected to the posts,” Savella stated in the release.
On Oct. 7, a search warrant revealed the identity of additional students from the high school who were interviewed.
This led to the 15-year-old being taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of terroristic conduct, terrorizing, rioting, reckless conduct, child abuse, obstruction of governmental function, conspiracy and solicitation.
The minor was processed and later confined at the Department of Youth Affairs, and all but an assault case was closed and forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General.
Tiyan High School as seen Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Tiyan.
