Cops: Police presence at school after unsubstantiated threats

Nassau County police showed up at a Farmingdale middle school Monday morning after, they said, an investigation determined unsubstantiated threats to students “fueled by hearsay through social media.”

Officials at Weldon E. Howitt Middle School at 70 Van Cott Ave. told police that rumors on social media included two eighth-grade students making threats to harm students on Monday and that one of the students had a handgun.

“Subsequent investigation by detectives determined that rumored threats were unsubstantiated and fueled by hearsay through social media,” police said in a news release.

A police spokeswoman early Monday said officers were on hand as a precautionary measure.