Two students, both 13, were arrested for allegedly making threats against Broward County schools on Snapchat in the past week, and authorities are investigating two other threats that could lead to arrests, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said.
A 13-year-old Weston boy was arrested before even the first day of school Monday.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted the Sheriff’s Office’s Threat Management Unit investigators on Saturday after receiving a tip that the student posted a photo of himself on Snapchat and included a threat to carry out a mass shooting at Broward County Public Schools offices in Fort Lauderdale. The Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Friday the student was “upset over BCPS’s new student cellphone policy,” which now requires students to put them away from the morning bell until dismissal.
Detectives took the boy into custody at his home, the Sheriff’s Office said.
A 13-year-old girl was arrested Thursday after Sheriff’s Office detectives were again contacted by the FBI about a post on Snapchat. The threat was directed at Cooper City High School; the Sheriff’s Office did not provide additional information.
Both teens are facing a charge of written threats to kill, do bodily injury, conduct a mass shooting, or an act of terrorism and a charge of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony. Both charges are felonies.
Two other threats against Broward County schools are currently being investigated, but the Sheriff’s Office did not provide additional information.
Sheriff Gregory Tony at a news conference at Boyd H. Anderson High School before the start of the school year reminded parents and students that the false threats will lead to a felony arrest. When the Sheriff’s Office responds to those false threats, by deploying helicopters, investigators and special units, Tony said they could be wasting as much as $60,000 each time.
“It’s unfortunate that this happens more times than not every single year, despite me standing here and saying this,” Tony said at the conference. “But it’s going to continue to happen. So do not allow your children to make a mistake, get a felony arrest on their record that they’re probably not going to be able to get rid of.”
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