Police arrested a Broward County high school student after she allegedly wrote a viral school shooting threat, WSVN reported Friday.
Catrina Petit, a senior at J.P. Taravella High School in Coral Springs, allegedly masqueraded as another student at the same school, according to WSVN.
“I will shoot up the school and kill every student here,” Petit allegedly wrote in the threat, before questioning whether the shooting would occur “during the day or after the school day or in between classes. All I know is that everyone must die. Spread this message,” the outlet reported.
Petit allegedly wrote the threat, which subsequently went viral as it reached social media platforms, on the computer of the student whom she purportedly intended to frame, WSVN reported. (RELATED: Indiana Legislature Approves Bill To Fund Teacher Firearm Training With Taxpayer Dollars)
CSPD has arrested & charged 18-yr-old Taravella High School student, Catrina Petit, with multiple felonies for threatening to commit a school shooting. Petit sent the threat out fraudulently using another student’s name and computer access. #NotinCS pic.twitter.com/yKNLaY7wuj
— Coral Springs Police (@CoralSpringsPD) May 5, 2023
Word of the threat first reached police on Thursday afternoon and prompted increased security measures at schools across Broward County and Miami-Dade County, according to WSVN.
Petit was later arrested and taken into custody at Broward County Jail Friday evening. She faces felony charges after allegedly confessing to her role in creating the threat, the outlet reported.
“People need to know this is not a joke,” said Lori Alhadeff, a Broward County School Board member, before adding the school district takes “this very seriously, and they need to stop,” according to WSVN.
“We have a ZERO-TOLERANCE policy for this type of activity,” Miami-Dade County Public Schools wrote in a May 5 Tweet in response to the incident, which urged parents to “speak to your children about the life-long consequences.”