3 high school teens charged with 'terroristic threats' after TikTok bomb threat challenge

• Three high school students in Kentucky made joke bomb threats to teachers as part of a TikTok challenge.
• They have been charged with terroristic threats.
• The challenge encouraged students to film themselves telling a teacher there was a bomb or gun in their bag.

Three high school students in Kentucky were charged with terroristic threatening after they participated in a TikTok challenge, police said.

Teenagers made bomb threats to their teachers in at least three separate incidents since the school year began on August 9, apparently as part of a TikTok challenge, police said, per The New York Post.

"The challenge encouraged students to record a video of themselves telling a teacher there was a bomb or gun in their backpack," Oldham County police said in a statement.

All three Oldham County High School students, who were 15, have been charged with terroristic threats.

A fourth 15-year-old student at nearby South Oldham High School might have also been inspired by the challenge and was charged with harassing communications, police said, per the Post.

The four students have been suspended and must complete a mental health evaluation before returning to school, the district said in a message to parents, according to WDRB.com

"As previously communicated in a letter to families regarding terroristic threatening, students who participate in this type of behavior face serious consequences. In addition to school-level discipline, students are prosecuted to the greatest extent of the law for making a threat to a public school," the message said.

"Whether written or spoken, all threats are taken seriously, and students need to know the repercussions of these actions, both short and long term. Even if they are not credible threats, they can cause a great deal of stress or anxiety for our students, families and staff."