Updated 6:30 p.m. May 27

Overnight, officials with Great Falls Public Schools and Great Falls Police Department were made aware of social media posts that made threats to local schools.

Law enforcement investigated those posts, isolated the IP address of the person posting them and determined the person was out of state and that there is no actual threat to schools, according to GFPS superintendent Tom Moore.

The person making the threats has been identified as John Christopher Neff and was taken into custody in Coeur D’ Alene, Idaho just after 5 p.m. May 27th, according to GFPD.

Prior to his arrest, Neff barricaded himself in a residence forcing a SWAT call out. The arrest was in coordination with the U.S. Marshal Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Coeur D’Alene police department, according to GFPD.

“Throughout the day, GFPD detectives worked tirelessly with other law enforcement agencies to make this happen,” according to GFPD.

Around 9:30 p.m. May 26, GFPD was made aware of threatening comments that were posted on the Great Falls Public Schools Facebook site.

“The comments were alarming, threatening, and a complete disregard to the sensitive nature of threats to schools across the country,” according to GFPD.

GFPD detectives and the school resource officers, worked with the FBI, U.S. Marshals, and GFPS staff overnight to determine if the threat was credible and if any precautions would be required during the next school day, according to GFPD.

“Officers were able to determine, with a great amount of certainty, the subject posting the comments was not in the local area. Even still, unmarked detectives from the police department and GFPS staff focused attention on our schools as students arrived on the morning of May 27,” according to GFPD.

Using the information gathered by all involved law enforcement agencies, the Cascade County Attorney’s Office drafted emergency charging information and an arrest warrant. Judge John Kutzman signed a $1 million emergency warrant for the suspect’s arrest, for felony intimidation, according to GFPD

Moore said that all school instruction, activities and events continued as planned today.

GFPD said that “we can confirm the person making the posts is not in Montana and is not a threat to our community.”

In an evening press release, GFPD said, the “GFPD and the GFPS continue to take threats to our schools and our students seriously. We are aware the suspect in this case continued to post comments throughout the day. These comments were monitored and collected. As with any investigation, there are details that if made public could jeopardize the integrity of the case. In this case, officers determined there was no ‘immediate’ threat to the Great Falls Public Schools or to our community. However, the suspect indicated multiple times, with threatening language, that he planned to travel to our community. As such, the GFPD, and other law enforcement agencies, pursued this incident to the fullest.”

Social media comments locally also included mention that the individual making the threats online was associated with a band scheduled to play at The Newberry on May 31.

“We at The Newberry are aware of the current online threats by an individual regarding the concert on May 31. This individual is in no way associated with either band playing that evening. The safety of our patrons and community is of highest priority. We do not condone violence of any kind and have security measures at all events. We are working with local law enforcement to resolve the issue in a timely and safe manner,” Newberry management posted on May 27.

The band, Silent Theory, said in a post on May 27 that they were made aware of the threats the man is making and that he has no affiliation to their band or the headliner scheduled to play at The Newberry on May 31.

The man, the band wrote, “has been actively trying to derail us for four years. That being said, we take nothing like this lightly and have already been in contact with the police department who are very aware of him and the situation. We would ask our friends to also please call the police should you see anything posted from him.”