An 11-year-old middle school kid in Port Orange, Florida, has been charged with a felony for threatening to perpetrate a mass shooting at a middle school, authorities announced Monday.
“We just arrested a Creekside Middle School student who made threats to commit a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School,” Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood announced on social media. “He had drafted a list of names and objectives. He claims it was all a joke.
According to an incident record supplied to CNN by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the Creekside Middle School kid was charged with a felony for intimidating others with a written threat of a “mass shooting/terrorism act.” CNN does not name the 11-year-old, who has been accused as a juvenile.
The report stated that detectives searched the student’s home and discovered “various airsoft style rifles and pistols, magazines, fake ammunition designed to give a realistic appearance, and several knives and swords.”
police reportedly obtained a list of student’s names on a notepad, which the juvenile allegedly stated he “wanted to kill,” according to comments provided to police.
The arrest was made after an anonymous tip from another student at Creekside Middle School led deputies to a group of children from both Creekside and Silver Sands schools who were having a FaceTime discussion with the juvenile, according to the report.
According to the report, the students informed investigators that the 11-year-old showed them various firearms and knives, but they were unable to determine if the guns were real or not.
When detectives asked the juvenile about his plans to perpetrate a shooting, he stated he “admittedly ‘joked’ about these comments but denied making any direct threat to either school.”
The 11-year-old claimed he showed the other students his Airsoft rifles and knives, but he did not recall telling them the weapons were not real. According to the complaint, the other children “began to discuss how (the juvenile) was going to complete a shooting” after he showed them the weapons and knives.
According to the report, the juvenile informed police he compiled the list of names “as a joke,” and “he had no intention of causing any of the listed individuals harm.”
On Friday, the sheriff made a video statement claiming that 54 calls about school shootings had been received through Fortify Florida’s tip line, all of which were “deemed bogus.”
Chitwood stated in the statement that starting Monday, authorities will go after the parents of any juveniles who threaten school shootings online.
“And starting Monday, your little cherub?” When we take him into custody, we will begin broadcasting his face and going on perp walks with him, followed by photos of you, the parents. “Because you don’t want to raise your children, Sheriff Chitwood will,” he says in the video. “Parents, get your kids in line, or your checkbook and pride will suffer.” “I promise.”
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