A Florida fifth-grade student was arrested Saturday for threatening to conduct a mass shooting via text messages, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
The 10-year-old student at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral was handcuffed and walked to a police vehicle on Saturday evening, according to the New York Post. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook that detectives interviewed the boy and developed probable cause for his arrest.
The sheriff’s office said that the School Threat Enforcement Team was tipped off to the messages. The Youth Services Criminal Investigations Division took the case due to the boy’s age.
“This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno. “Making sure our children are safe is paramount.”
“We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second … NOT ONE SECOND, to investigate this threat,” Marceno continued. (RELATED: ‘No Waiting For Tactical Teams’: Former SWAT Commander Explains How Police Are Trained To Handle Active Shooters)
5TH GRADER ARRESTED FOR MAKING WRITTEN THREAT
“Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny. This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences,” stated Sheriff Carmine Marceno.
Full release below. https://t.co/hVxwOmUFsD pic.twitter.com/kq95Gq1DVH
— Carmine Marceno – Florida’s Law and Order Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) May 28, 2022
Marceno suggested that the threat was a “fake threat,” though the boy is experiencing real consequences for his actions. The 10-year-old was charged with making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny,” Marceno said. “This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”
The arrest comes less than a week after a mass shooting at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school that took the lives of 21 people, including 19 children. Law enforcement in Uvalde was at the scene of the shooting within two minutes after the gunman entered the building, but did not enter the building themselves for over an hour.
According to a press conference with the Texas Department of Public Safety, 19 officers stood in the hall outside the classroom while children called 911. Officers did not breach the classroom and kill the gunman for another 40 minutes.
Lee County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.