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ALPENA — Thunder Bay Junior High School, Alpena High School, and Alternative Choices for Educational Success Academy remain closed today because of an ongoing investigation into two threats of violence directed at the schools on Wednesday, Alpena Public Schools announced in a press release on Thursday afternoon.

Officials closed the two school buildings early Thursday morning after someone reported alleged threats of gun violence against the schools, APS officials said in a news release Thursday morning.

No evidence suggests any threat to other district buildings, according to school officials. Elementary buildings will be in session today. The district canceled all Thursday evening events.

District officials did not respond to questions about the threats on Thursday.

Two separate threats against the two buildings came from APS students, the district said. Officials did not share the ages of the students making the threats or whether the threats were directed toward any specific individuals within the school.

Both threats referred to the use of guns, the release said.

Police continue to investigate Wednesday’s threat and have contacted the students and their families, according to the Thursday morning release.

“We do anticipate criminal charges will be forthcoming,” the district said.

Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski said Thursday morning that she had received no details about the threat.

The Michigan State Police-Alpena Post will investigate and forward reports of any other such threats to local prosecutors for criminal charges, said 1st Lt. John Grimshaw, post commander.

“For any individual who makes a threat, the consequences will be swift and severe, potentially resulting in decades in prison,” the district said in the Thursday morning news release.

Penalties for threats against schools may include incarceration or thousands of dollars in fines, according to a joint statement about school threats released on Monday by a collaboration of local school officials, prosecutors, and law enforcement.

Even a false or joking threat of violence constitutes a crime, the statement said.

“We must do everything in our power to make sure that our children understand the serious nature of making threats of violence,” APS officials said in the news release. “The impact of real or ‘joke’ threats is real and far reaching for so many people.”

The district in its release thanked the “brave individuals who brought these threats to our attention.”

The release did not clarify who reported the threats.

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“People speaking up when they hear something concerning is our best tool in keeping our students and staff safe,” the district said in the news release.

Dan O’Connor, superintendent of Alcona Community Schools, said that Alcona County students have contacted the school with more reports of suspicious activities or comments since a recent school shooting downstate.

“We are working with law enforcement to investigate every report but have not had to deal with anything substantial enough to close the schools,” O’Connor said.

All other districts in the area said that they have not had to respond to threats from students.

Dozens of schools across Michigan have been forced to close over threats in recent days in what officials call copycat threats following a mass shooting at Oxford High School on Nov. 30.

Police say 15-year-old Oxford student Ethan Crumbley shot and killed four students and wounded seven others. The teen has been charged as an adult with murder, terrorism, and other crimes, and his parents face involuntary manslaughter charges for failing to intervene with their son despite warning signs and failing to secure the firearm used in the attack.

Since that shooting, Michigan police have taken dozens of children, some as young as 9 years old, into custody or charged them for alleged threats of violence involving schools or students across the state, the Detroit Free Press reported on Thursday.

Paul Clark, superintendent of Cheboygan Area Schools, said on Thursday afternoon that two recent threats against his school district have both ended in arrests and the district’s schools have reopened after several days of closure.

The first arrest was that of a minor who threatened a school shooting on social media and forced the school to close last week.

The second arrest was made in Canada and the suspect is being expedited to the U.S.

“Local law enforcement was fantastic,” Clark said. “The Michigan State Police used an analyst to track the Snapchat IP address.”