A 10-year-old Florida boy was arrested for a SnapChat threat to “shoot up” a high school, the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office said.
A Wakulla High School student on Wednesday reported to school staff that he was in a SnapChat conversation with an unidentified person who stated he was going to “shoot up your school” and “It’s y’alls last day,” officials said.
The school resource officer also on Thursday obtained an arrest warrant charging the juvenile with violation of Florida Statute 836: making a written or electronic threat to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, officials said.
Wakulla High School is in Crawfordville, which is just over a half hour southwest of Tallahassee on the Florida panhandle.
With that, school staff around 4 p.m. told the school’s resource officer about the threatening social media post, officials said, and the resource officer initiated a criminal investigation.
The Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office said it asked for assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and its Cyber Crime Unit, Counter Terrorism Unit, and Organized Crime Unit joined the investigation.
The agencies worked throughout Wednesday afternoon and evening and into Thursday’s early morning hours to identify the source and location of the threat, officials said.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents and a school resource officer early Thursday morning “made contact with the subject who made the online threat at his residence” in Woodville in Leon County and interviewed him, officials said. Woodville is located approximately halfway between Crawfordville and Tallahassee.
The Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office said it told Wakulla County school officials that same morning that there was no imminent threat to the high school or any other district school and that the juvenile who had made the threat had been identified and would be charged.
The school resource officer also on Thursday obtained an arrest warrant charging the juvenile with violation of Florida Statute 836: making a written or electronic threat to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism, officials said.
That same day, the juvenile’s father turned him in, and the juvenile was taken into custody by authority of the arrest warrant, officials said.
Anything else?
Similar threats from juveniles have prompted another Florida sheriff to begin shaming the suspects on social media, NewsNation said.
More from the outlet:
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he’s tired of the hoaxes targeting students, disrupting schools and sapping law enforcement resources. In social media posts, Chitwood has warned parents that if their kids are arrested for making threats, he’ll make sure the public knows.
Chitwood recently posted the full name and mug shot of an 11-year-old boy who allegedly threatened to carry out a school shooting. While many praised Chitwood online, the sheriff’s tactics sparked criticism from some who say the weight of the responsibility should fall on the boy’s parents.
Under Florida law, juvenile court records are generally exempt from public release — but not if the child is charged with a felony, as in this case.
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Snapchat, Online threat, Mass shooting threat, Child, Florida, Arrest, Wakulla county sheriff’s office, Wakulla high school, 10-year-old boy, Crime
