The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has located and arrested an 11-year-old girl in connection to threats made to several local schools made over social medial.
The investigation identified a female middle school student who has been arrested and charged with written or electronic threats to conduct a mass shooting, a second-degree felony, according to an ECSO Facebook post. The juvenile was not identified, nor was the specific language of the threats.
The post notes that the investigation is ongoing and may lead to additional arrests. The FBI and the Escambia County school district assisted in Friday’s investigation.
In a written statement, Escambia County Public Schools noted, “Be certain, we will use every tool at our disposal to be sure the person or persons responsible for today’s disruption never has the opportunity to do something like this again. We will work with our partners in law enforcement as they investigate further and we will pursue charges. We want to send the message that this behavior will not be tolerated in any of our schools. To those who seek to promote chaos by knowingly spreading harmful and disruptive disinformation, we will pursue you with every legal means available.”
School threats extend beyond Escambia: Dozens of violent school threats are flooding Florida and the nation. Here’s what we know
Both the school district and the Sheriff’s Office noted that protecting students is a top priority, and there was an elevated police presence on local campuses to help ensure the safety of students and staff.
Florida school districts across the state have been on heightened alert following violent threats made in several counties throughout the state following the school shooting in Georgia that left four dead on Sept. 4.
There have been multiple other juveniles arrested across Florida in connection with the various threats, including a 13-year-old student in Tallahassee, a 15-year-old arrested in Sanford, a trio of teens in Columbia County and another 11-year-old girl in St. Lucie County.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia School threats linked to middle school girl ECSO says
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