Frisco authorities investigating a fatal stabbing at a high school track meet are working with the FBI on a parallel inquiry into social media posts about the incident that falsely claim to be written by the city’s police chief, officials said Friday.

Experts who track online misinformation and disinformation said one post — apparently shared by a Facebook account using the name of Frisco police Chief David Shilson and displaying the department’s official logo — appeared designed to provoke readers on racial lines.

Police issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying investigators were aware of a “fake account” using Shilson’s name, advising the public to tune into official channels. Officer Grant Cottingham, a police spokesperson, confirmed the post bearing the department’s logo was circulating online and said a concerned person flagged it to police.

“Criminal charges will be pursued,” the department’s statement read. Cottingham said those involved with drafting the post could be charged with online impersonation, which could be a Class A misdemeanor or a third-degree felony, depending on the case.

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Frisco police Chief David Shilson speaks at a news conference when he was a deputy chief in 2019. (2014 File Photo / Staff)

The investigation into the post comes after Frisco police say Austin Metcalf, a 17-year-old Frisco Memorial High School student, was stabbed Wednesday. Officers arrested Karmelo Anthony, a 17-year-old Frisco Centennial High School student, in connection with Austin’s death on one count of murder, a first-degree felony.

Karmelo remained in Collin County jail Friday in lieu of a $1 million bond, according to jail records. He told police he was acting in self-defense, according to a police report obtained by The Dallas Morning News. An attorney listed as representing him did not immediately return messages seeking comment Friday morning.

The case has drawn widespread attention on social media, with posts on Facebook and X, the website formerly known as Twitter, drawing millions of views and comments. The post claiming to be from Shilson, dated Thursday, appeared as online discussions about the case were high.

Jeffrey Layne Blevins, a University of Cincinnati professor who studies the effects of misinformation and disinformation online, reviewed the post at the request of The News. He pointed to several “red flags,” including its long length compared with typical police statements released in the early days of an investigation and its use of inflammatory language and phrasing.

Blevins added that, in some ways, the post was more sophisticated than other attempts at disinformation he has seen. The post, for example, included the actual tip line used by the Frisco Police Department for the case, though it omitted the shortcode needed for contacting the agency through text message.

The motive for what Blevins called “imposter posts” can sometimes be evident, but he said the post about the track incident was not as clear. The post, in part, states the case was not “racially motivated.” While it identifies Austin by name, it does not do so for Karmelo, identifying him only as “suspect” and “black teen.”

Frisco police have not indicated that race was a factor in the case, nor did the officers who submitted narratives included in the police report reviewed by The News. Austin is white. Karmelo is Black.

“It seems like the goal might have been to get people to react to this and maybe give false accounts,” Blevins said in an interview about the post’s inclusion of the tip line. “It can really muddy the waters of the investigation.”

Cottingham, the police spokesperson, said he was not aware of any tips Frisco police received that referenced the post. Police are working with social media platforms to have the posts taken down, he said.

A photo of Austin Metcalf, sits over the chimney at his residence on, Thursday, April 3, 2025 in Frisco. Austin was killed after he was fatally stabbed during a high school track meet in Frisco on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer)

Janet Johnson, a professor at the University of Texas at Dallas who studies social media’s influence on information, also reviewed the post. She said she did not feel the post was as sophisticated, suggesting a wary reader would doubt a police chief would discuss an active investigation in such terms.

Johnson said the post uses odd language, including describing the incident as a “mutual combat brawl” and using the words like “bloggers” and “sucker punched” — all terms she said a department would not use in an official news release or in statement from the police chief.

She added that she thinks the author’s goal is to cause uncertainty and sow racial animus online.

“It’s about creating doubt,” Johnson said in a message to The News. “That’s what propaganda, conspiracy theories are meant to do — create doubt. And if enough people read this and get mad, then they did their job.”

Blevins said the law enforcement investigation into the post was notable.

“You are taking a bit of a risk to impersonate police,” he said of the post. “We’ll see how good their deception skills really are, depending on how far the police and the FBI take it in this case.”

Katherine Chaumont, an FBI spokesperson, confirmed in a statement Friday that the federal agency was assisting Frisco police but said any updates on the investigation would come from local authorities.

The investigation was in its early stages. “It’s too early to say what the scope is,” Cottingham said in the statement.