Fundraising tops $25K for boy behind Minn. lockdown
Published 8:08 am Tuesday, February 27, 2018
ORONO — An online fundraising campaign has tallied more than $25,000 in pledges for the family of student whose Facebook and Twitter posts prompted a school lockdown in Minnesota.
The boy was arrested last week after police investigated social media postings that threatened a school shooting at Orono High School in suburban Minneapolis. The threat prompted a lockdown for more than 900 students, just a week after 17 people were shot and killed at a school in Florida.
A GoFundMe page set up by the parent of another pupil says the student, who’s described as having autism, didn’t mean the threat, had no means to carry it out and is despondent over the incident.
The money will help fund his and his family’s legal and medical needs, and the parents’ lost wages.