By admin 
McCracken County Schools, one of several school districts in Kentucky that reported recent online threats, told parents that the arrest of a 15-year-old in Florida was linked to threats received this week.
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Schools across the country reported threats made in recent days, some of which were linked to the “Cat in the Hat” social media trend where a person in a “Cat in the Hat” costume made threats towards specific schools or students.
Another student, 14, was cited by the Allen County-Scottsville Crime Task Force, officials told the Herald-Leader Monday. The task force said in a Facebook post that multiple students in their area had received threatening messages from Snapchat and other social media platforms from an individual identifying themselves as the “Cat in the Hat.”
The Allen County case was “completely separate” from the Florida arrest, task force officials told the Herald-Leader.
The “Cat in the Hat” is a social media trend in which students are using AI-generated pictures and videos to make the character look creepy or threatening.
“They’ll make posts saying the Cat in the Hat is coming to their town, school, neighborhood, or even after certain people. Most of the kids doing it probably see it as a joke or prank, but some of these posts have scared students enough that schools and law enforcement have gotten involved. It’s one of those internet trends that can go from being stupid and harmless to pretty serious depending on what someone posts and who they target,” Allen County task force officials said in a message to the Herald Leader Monday. “It’s happening everywhere unfortunately.”
On Sunday, the Allen County task force said they had identified the juvenile responsible for the TikTok account in that investigation. On Monday task force officials told the Herald-Leader that the juvenile reached out to them after their social media post.
“The juvenile reached out to us after our social media post,” task force officials told the Herald-Leader in a message. “We told them that we can identify them through social media and we were willing to work with those involved if they come forward.”
The student in Allen County was cited and released to a guardian, task force officials said.
“We interviewed him. He was trying to be funny and scare his friends. We do not believe he is a threat to the community or the school. He owned up to everything and his parents were very cooperative. The school is taking action as well,” task force officials said.
Allen County officials said that student was just responsible for the “Tik Tok one.“
“We are awaiting snap chat returns to determine who is behind that account,” they said.
The Allen County student did not send threats to other counties or school districts, officials said.
Because the suspect was a juvenile no further identifying information would be released.
“The juvenile’s parents have been cooperative with investigators and we appreciate their cooperation,” an Allen County investigator’s Facebook post said.
Owen County Superintendent Reggie W. Taylor said Monday, while not mentioning the Cat in the Hat trend, that the school district had been working with police after the district was threatened as part of a “current trend.”
As a result, “the students involved have been identified and have confessed to their role in the incident,” Taylor said.
The investigation is ongoing and appropriate legal and disciplinary steps were being taken, he said.
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The Courier-Journal reported Monday that in Louisville, the private Assumption High School closed for the day Monday “after a post related to a viral ‘Cat in the Hat’ social media trend sparked safety concerns.”
No credible threat to Assumption was identified, the Courier-Journal said.
Carroll County Schools officials increased police at schools and said in a Monday statement, “A viral ‘Cat in the Hat’ video naming Carroll County Middle School has been shared and commented on by our students. These videos are going viral in school districts all over the United States and are intended to cause fear and hysteria.”
Carroll County Schools officials said “any students discovered to (be) connected to these fear tactics will be criminally prosecuted.”
They asked parents to consider monitoring students internet and social media activity very closely or “just shutting it down altogether.”
“Social media, in particular, has a well-documented history of negative impacts on our children’s hearts and minds,” the Carroll County statement said.
Multiple school districts in Kentucky reported they had received threats in recent days.
In Bourbon County, extra police patrols were at schools Monday after Superintendent Larry Begley had notified parents of a threat. The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office told parents in a Facebook post that the sheriff’s office was “aware of the recent viral ‘Cat in the Hat’ AI-generated school threat circulating on social media” and a juvenile suspect had been identified.
Begley said it was his understanding that the threats against students in Bourbon County were related to the “Cat in the Hat.”
“I had no idea if this was specific to us or not, so I leaned on the side of caution to ask our SRO chief to ask for extra presence and investigation … so far, there is no evidence that any of our kids shared this or that the threat was credible towards us specifically … but this is ongoing in the investigation, as this unfortunately appears to be a systemic issue across the state and nation,” Begley said.
Harrison County Schools officials, who reached out to families Sunday about online threats to students, did not immediately say Monday if those threats were tied to the “Cat in the Hat” case or either of the juvenile suspects.
The McCracken County Sheriff’s Office has filed charges of second-degree terroristic threatening, identity theft and harassing communications against the juvenile arrested in Florida.
“The FBI traced the IP address associated with the threat to an address in Polk County, Florida. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office identified a 15-year-old juvenile in Lakeland, Florida as the person responsible,” McCracken County officials said.
“The juvenile was arrested and charged with multiple felonies in Florida. The McCracken County Sheriff’s Office has also filed charges of second-degree terroristic threatening, identity theft and harassing communications.
“The person responsible has been identified and is in custody. There is no active threat to McCracken County High School at this time. We are grateful to McCracken County Schools Chief of Police Wes Orazine, the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and all the agencies that worked quickly to investigate this threat,” McCracken County Schools officials said.
Fayette County Public Schools officials did not immediately answer questions Monday about whether students had received threats.
This story was originally published August 31, 2026 at 8:51 AM with the headline “Charges filed in 2 states. KY schools targeted in viral ‘Cat in the Hat’ threats.”
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