WINTHROP — A Winthrop High School student is facing criminal charges after reportedly threatening to harm fellow students on social media early Thursday.

The 15-year-old male student, who is not being identified by police because he is a juvenile, was issued a summons on a charge of terrorizing, according to Winthrop police Chief Ryan Frost. He was released to a parent around 2:15 p.m.

Cornelia Brown, interim superintendent of schools, said the school became aware of the threat after other students told Winthrop High School faculty around 9:30 a.m. Thursday. She said the student who made the threat was at school this morning, but Frost said police removed him from school after they learned of the threat.

Brown said the student’s belongings were searched and he was not in possession of any dangerous weapons.

The post, which Brown said was likely made on Snapchat, was reportedly a picture of a Winthrop High School student that had a caption stating that the 15-year-old was going to harm students at the school. She said the threat was “unspecific.”

Brown said in a press release that the student told administrators that he was “just kidding.”

“All threats to our students are taken very seriously and there will be strong consequences,” she said, “both from the school district and the criminal justice system.”

Brown said the student will also face an in-school punishment, but one has not been decided yet. She said administrators spoke with the student’s family and they are “treating it very seriously.”