An 18-year-old man has been arrested for threatening mass shooting
Catherine Hawley informs
TAMPA, Fla. – The FBI said there is often an increase in misleading threats to schools and other public places after the mass shootings. Local law enforcement agencies treat these alleged jokes as real threats, and there are serious consequences.
Corey Anderson was picked up by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at his Lutz home Sunday. Detectives said they received a warning that the 18-year-old posted a photo of himself with what looked like a pistol, a rifle and a tactical vest. The photo was titled, “Hello Siri, directions to the nearest school.”
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Investigators said the guns turned out to be soft air guns. However, Anderson faces a felony in writing threatening to carry out a mass shooting.
“A mistake can affect your whole life, so think before you make a threat,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a school threat published by the PSA in 2020.
A 2018 law amended the state’s statute and made it a second-degree felony to write or write a threat to carry out a mass shooting or an act of terrorism and to publish or transmit that threat for others to see.
“It doesn’t matter if someone says they were kidding, it doesn’t matter what their intent is,” Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said in 2019. “When you do, when you post it on social media, I’ve committed this crime “.
It is illegal to post a threatening message on social media as a status update, direct message, post or story, as a video, text message, or even through anonymous game chats or forums. These threats of online violence have serious consequences even if they turn out to be false alarms.
“Most kids today use social media, so they use Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook,” St. Petersburg Police Lieutenant Carl Watts said in 2018. “And sometimes kids post things, and they say it as a joke, but we don’t take it as a joke, we take it very seriously ”.
Anyone convicted of written threats faces up to 15 years in prison or parole and a fine of up to $ 10,000.