Authorities praised the bravery of the students who reported the alleged threats and encouraged parents to talk to their children about these kinds of threats.
Despite a TikTok warning from Lee County, Florida Sheriff Carmine Marceno, three teens in his jurisdiction were arrested this week for allegedly making threats of violence against their schools or specific groups of people at school.
“Fake Threat, real consequences,” Marceno said in the video. “You think you’re going to post a threat, fake or real? I can promise you, you’re not only getting out of school — because you will — but you’re also going to jail.”
“One student made a threat of a mass shooting at his high school in Bonita Springs,” Marceno noted. “A concerned student contacted the school resource officer after seeing a threat in a text message.”
Sheriff Marceno says despite the student using an app to disguise their cellphone number, Lee County Sheriff’s detectives were able to find the suspected sender and arrested them within a few hours.
The next student arrested was 13 years old, Marceno revealed.
“Another student who attends North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts was arrested after sending a Snapchat indicating he was gonna shoot Black students. A student at the school saw the Snapchat and notified a staff member.”
A third student, a 14-year-old boy, was arrested following a bomb threat posted on Twitter.
Authorities praised the bravery of the students who reported the alleged threats and encouraged parents to talk to their children about the severe nature of making any kind of threat — even as a joke.
“We cannot only be reactive,” Marceno lastly added. “We must proactively investigate all threats.”
