WAUCHULA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Hardee County Schools student was arrested on Saturday after a concerning social media message caught the attention of law enforcement.
According to a post on the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, the agency received several tips through Fortify Florida that led them to a message posted to a male student’s Snapchat account.
The message said, “When I come back to school I’m shooting whole school and [name redacted by police] let me know if you wanna go with me everybody gonna die glock 19 drum mag 50 round y’all done [peace emoji, skull emoji] First n—- I wanna gat is [name redacted by police].”
Deputies said the boy admitted to making the alleged threat. A search of his bedroom turned up toy guns, but no real weapons were found. Deputies said they also seized his cell phone.
“I commend the individuals who acted so quickly by notifying us of this school threat. The Hardee County Sheriff’s Office takes these types of posts seriously and will hold those individuals accountable for posting threats and disrupting our schools,” Sheriff Vent Crawford said. “Finally, I commend our deputies for responding so quickly and taking measures to ensure our students and teachers are safe when they return to school on Tuesday.”
The student was charged with making written threats to conduct a mass shooting. The sheriff’s office said it is still investigating the incident, but there appears to be no real threat towards Hardee County Schools.
