Students in Broward County have only been back in the classroom for a week, but in that short time deputies arrested two teens for making potentially dangerous threats — a common occurrence authorities vow to continue cracking down on.
“None of this stuff is a joking or laughing matter,” Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said. “If you threaten…on social media or anywhere else, we are going to track you down and arrest you.”
A 13-year-old boy and girl are facing charges of using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony and written threats to kill, do bodily injury, conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.
On Aug. 10, two days before classes resumed, Broward Sheriff’s detectives received a tip from the FBI that the boy made a post on Snapchat that included a threat to commit a mass shooting at the school district’s offices in Fort Lauderdale.
Detectives said he was upset over the district’s new cellphone policy.
On Thursday, another FBI tip led detectives to the girl who made a post on Snapchat in which she made a threat against Cooper City High School, the details of which were not released.
Two weeks before school started, Sheriff Tony held a press conference to remind parents and students about the punishment that comes with making threats against schools.
The sheriff’s office said it is also investigating two other threats made against Broward schools that may lead to more arrests.
“It’s unfortunate that this happens more times than not every school year,” Tony said at the conference. “Do not allow your children to make a mistake and get a felony arrest on their record that they’re probably not going to get rid of.”
Source Agencies
