A 28-year-old Kalispell man was apprehended after Kalispell Police received a warning late Sunday night from Oregon authorities that someone from Kalispell was posting multiple threats to schools, students and to Jews on social media accounts.

David Joseph Lenio was booked into jail Monday night on suspicion of malicious intimidation, a felony. 

“We got a call from an agency in Oregon that they received a warning someone had posted 38 threats,” Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset told the Inter Lake. “He referenced other incidents of school violence, and he mentioned his dislike of Jews.”

Nasset said his department mobilized 12 officers to work overnight on the case, along with three FBI agents, and multiple officers in other departments, plus school authorities.

Authorities learned that the suspect was spending the day Monday on the Big Mountain and assigned officers to watch his vehicle. Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said the suspect was taken into custody at Whitefish Mountain Resort shortly before 5 p.m. Monday. 

The public first became aware of the threat shortly afterwards when public schools began to send word to parents that the suspect was in custody.

Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Mark Flatau used an automated phone message to get the word out. 

“An individual had made threats through his social media account that targeted schools in general,” Flatau said, adding that the suspect was identified as a young man with no apparent history of attending school in the Flathead Valley.

“All city police departments, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI are working to ensure the safety and welfare of the entire community, including our schoolchildren,” Flatau said.

Shortly after 7 p.m., Nasset said the suspect was “in custody for a mental health evaluation,” adding that, “If he goes to jail tonight [Monday], he will be charged with malicious intimidation, a felony.”

Flatau said classes would resume normally today. There was no school Monday for the Presidents Day holiday. 

Nasset confirmed that authorities believe the suspect was alone in making the threats, and reassured the community, “We absolutely don’t believe there is anyone else with a connection with this threat out there.”

Managing editor Frank Miele may be reached at 758-4447 or by email at edit@dailyinterlake.com.