Pembroke Pines student learns it’s a felony to threaten to shoot ‘enemies,’ cops say

Making a joke about shooting your classmates, even if you don’t have the weapons to do so, is still a crime.

That’s the lesson 19-year-old Jeremy Ossa learned Friday.

According to the Pembroke Pines Police Department, the Somerset Academy North student said, “I’m going to go to the pawn shop, buy a sniper (rifle), and shoot my enemies from the recent past.”

Instead, he went to the Broward County Jail, where he was charged with a second-degree felony for making a false report concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner.

After the massacre at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, and other recent school shootings and threats, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies launched a #ThinkBeforeYouPost campaign to warn people — often students — that making threats will be treated as a federal crime.

Pembroke Pines police arrested four students in an 11-day period in September and October for making threats at school.

According to police, these arrests included that of a 13-year-old boy who said, “I know why people shoot up schools. I wish I could do it right now,” during a class at Silver Trail Middle School. The teacher and his classmates heard the threat.

That same day, the department arrested a 14-year-old student at Franklin Academy after he downloaded a photo to Instagram that showed another boy holding an Airsoft rifle with the caption “Gn Franklin,” which the Threat Assessment Team interpreted as “good night Franklin.”

In September, a 13-year-old Pines Middle School student was arrested for making “a joke” post on Instagram about shooting up the school. And an 11-year-old at Pembroke Pines’ Walter C. Young Middle School was arrested after police said the boy stated, “I’m going to shoot up the school!” He also said the threat was a joke.

In May, a 15-year-old student at Franklin Academy was arrested by Pembroke Pines police after he pointed out classmates who were on “his list” for a school shooting and plotted how he would enter the charter school.

Also in May, a Coral Gables High School student was arrested after he created an email account under another student’s name to issue threats against the school.

“The Bureau and its law enforcement partners take each threat seriously. We investigate and fully analyze each threat to determine its credibility,” FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich said in an FBI news release. “Hoax threats disrupt school, waste limited law enforcement resources, and put first responders in unnecessary danger. We also don’t want to see a young person start out adulthood with a felony record over an impulsive social media post. It’s not a joke; always think before you post.”

In Ossa’s case, Pembroke Pines Police Department’s Threat Assessment Team responded to the school after several students overheard his comments and told a teacher.

“The suspect advised that he said the statements as a joke, and that he knew it had been wrong to say them. The suspect was not in possession of any weapons, and indicated that he does not have access to weapons,” police said in their report.

This story was originally published October 30, 2018 at 8:55 AM.