Trinity High School in Louisville, Kentucky, canceled Thursday classes after an alleged threat was made against the school on Twitter due to football coach Jeff Brohm’s decision to turn down the University of Louisville job and instead remain at Purdue University.
Brohm attended Trinity, as did his brothers, Greg and Brian, and their father, Oscar, who is still an assistant coach with the football team.
Brohm’s decision to stay at Purdue, spurning his alma mater of Louisville, was announced Wednesday after he had met with Cardinals athletic director Vince Tyra a day earlier.
It was unclear when the alleged threat was posted on Twitter.
Trinity, a Catholic, all-boys school, said in a statement Wednesday night that the school was notified of the alleged threat by St. Matthews Police and that classes were closed for Thursday.
St. Matthews Police Chief Barry Wilkerson told ESPN that his department and the FBI were investigating the matter.
“We take these threats seriously, especially towards a school,” Wilkerson said. “We’re going to investigate as much as we can at this point. It’s difficult when you have Twitter accounts to trace back, so it’s a little more complex than pushing a button and figuring out who it is. We’ll investigate it fully and bring charges, if necessary.”
Wilkerson said the person who posted the tweet could face charges even if it was intended as a joke.
“There are still ramifications, even if it’s a hoax,” Wilkerson said. “I think the FBI has made it pretty clear in some of the publications they’ve put out, a hoax, it disrupts the school, the students and the community in general. We will definitely take it seriously, and if [Trinity] wish to bring charges, they can; we can still do it ourselves as a terroristic threatening charge.
“Even if it’s a hoax, it’s not a good thing to do; it puts a lot of people in a bad situation. So yes, we would probably still prosecute if our commonwealth attorney wishes to do that.”