Florida fifth grader arrested, charged with threatening a mass shooting, police say

Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by Puzzlehead08
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A fifth grade student in Florida was arrested over the weekend and charged with sending a text message threatening to carry out a mass shooting, authorities said.

In a statement Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said it had learned earlier that day of a "threatening text message" sent by a student at an elementary school.

It said its local school threat enforcement team was immediately notified and started investigating. The 10-year-old boy was interviewed and charged later with "making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting," the sheriff's office said.

In video shared by authorities, the boy can be seen being led into a police vehicle.

“This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement, noting that the threat came just days after the deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School left 19 students and two teachers dead.

“Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny,” he said. “This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno speaks Wednesday about the school shooting in Texas and pledges his commitment to keep Lee County students and staff members safe. Andrew West / The News-Press via USA Today Network

Marceno said his team “didn’t hesitate one second...NOT ONE SECOND,” to investigate the incident.

The remark came as authorities in Uvalde face mounting criticism over their response to the May 24 school shooting after it came to light that they waited roughly an hour for backup instead of immediately moving in on the gunman.

Reddituser0346 on May 31st, 2022 at 02:27 UTC »

Good to see the police not hesitate to step in when it is an unarmed ten year old writing texts.

Puzzlehead08 on May 31st, 2022 at 02:18 UTC »

Another Florida student arrested for posting pictures of himself with a rifle seeking nearest school and charged with making a threat of mass shooting.

Hemicrusher on May 31st, 2022 at 02:13 UTC »

In fifth grade I was riding my bicycle into walls.