A fifth-grader in Florida who threatened to be shot dead in a text message was arrested Saturday, Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.
The incident comes less than a week after a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two teachers were shot dead Tuesday by 18-year-old Salvador Ramos.
The 10-year-old Florida student was charged with making threats in writing of a mass shooting, according to investigators.
“This student’s behavior is disgusting, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a press release. “Making sure our children are safe is paramount. We will have the law and order in our schools. My team did not hesitate for a second to investigate this threat.”
A fifth-grader in Florida was arrested Saturday after police say he threatened a mass shooting days after Tuesday’s tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers. Above, a girl lays flowers at a makeshift memorial for Texas victims at school on May 28th. CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The boy is attending Cape Coral Patriot Elementary School in Lee County School District, where the threat enforcement team was “immediately notified of the text and began an analytical investigation,” according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s department shared the information in a social media post that included a 22-second video clip of a child with his hands behind his back who was driving a police vehicle.
The case was investigated by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Youth Services. Deputies said the boy was arrested after detectives determined “a probable cause”.
“Now is not the time to act like a criminal. It’s not funny,” Marceno said. “This child made a false threat and is now experiencing real consequences.”
Newsweek contacted the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Lee County School District for additional information.
Also this weekend, Massachusetts police arrested a man who allegedly threatened to shoot at the school.
In that incident, Justin Moreira, 29, was charged with terrorist threats and was detained without bail on Saturday, the Barnstable police department said in a press release.
Moreira, from Hyannis, posted the threat on Facebook, police said. Barnstable and Yarmouth officials “received several reports” at the scene.
The publication did not name a place, but threatened to shoot at the school, police said.
Police located Moreira at her home, where she was arrested. After obtaining a search warrant, investigators determined that there were no firearms in his home at the time.
In another report this weekend, police said a Virginia man violently threatened a school on social media in another shared post on Saturday.
Cameron Sears, 23, of Suffolk, was charged with death threats or injury to persons and school property and was admitted to Western Tidewater Regional Prison, according to the Suffolk Police Department. Police did not identify the specific threat or the school named in the post.