(CNN) — Florida police have arrested a highschool scholar after video emerged of a possible gunman threatening to open fireplace at a faculty.
The Sanford Police Division stated it acquired an nameless tip on Saturday “concerning a video of an unknown male threatening to shoot up Seminole Excessive Faculty.”
“The video pictured the topic with a number of weapons, vests, and different objects of concern,” police stated in an announcement Sunday.
Sanford police and different legislation enforcement labored to determine the particular person featured within the video. Their investigations led them to arrest a 17-year-old a day later.
Police stated the 17-year-old is enrolled at Elevation Excessive Faculty, which can be within the metropolis of Sanford. He was taken into custody at his residence with out incident.
He’s charged with Intimidation Written/Digital Menace of Mass Taking pictures/Terrorism Act.
It’s unknown if he has an legal professional.
Crediting the “swift identification and arrest” of the teenager to “the speedy collaboration and dedication of a number of native and federal businesses and organizations,” Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith stated, “this quick motion and group work almost certainly prevented a tragedy and saved a number of lives.”
Police shared a photograph of things taken from {the teenager}’s residence, classifying them as, “extraordinarily lifelike Airsoft replicas.” It’s not clear if they’re the identical weapons from the video.
Superintendent of Seminole County Public Colleges Serita Beamon expressed her gratitude that the potential risk was taken severely and acted upon.
“I’m so grateful for the collaborative work and relentless dedication of all of the businesses concerned in bringing this incident to a conclusion. The security of our college students and workers is our highest precedence, and we’ll proceed to take any potential risk severely, and act shortly,” the police assertion quoted her as saying.
A number of alleged capturing plots stopped
The arrest marks the third time in current weeks that an alleged faculty capturing plot has been thwarted.
Lower than a month in the past, an Indiana teen was accused of plotting a Valentine’s Day faculty capturing impressed by the 2018 bloodbath at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty in Parkland, Florida.
That risk was additionally first flagged by an nameless tip – a name to the Sandy Hook tip line – which led authorities to on-line messages during which the 18-year-old suspect allegedly described planning “Parkland half two” for “a yr,” in line with authorities. The FBI was capable of hint the IP tackle related to the messages to the teenager suspect.
The next week, two youngsters have been arrested in Houston on suspicion of plotting an assault at a neighborhood faculty, in line with the FBI Houston workplace.
4 faculty shootings have been carried out within the US as of February 7 this yr, in line with CNN’s evaluation of occasions reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Schooling Week and Everytown for Gun Security. Two have been on Ok-12 faculty grounds, and two have been on school campuses. The shootings left one particular person useless and at the least 5 different victims injured.
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