Broward middle school student arrested after Snapchat threat, sheriff’s office says
Broward sheriff’s deputies arrested a Pompano Beach Middle School student Wednesday after they said investigators connected him with online threats made against the school the night before.
The threats, found via Snapchat, were reported to BSO around 9 p.m. Tuesday, said sheriff’s office spokeswoman Miranda Grossman.
“BSO’s Threat Management Unit was notified, and through investigative efforts, detectives were able to locate the 14-year-old suspect who is a student at Pompano Beach Middle School,” Grossman added.
BSO confirmed to the Miami Herald that the student is a boy. He was arrested and booked into the county’s Juvenile Assessment Center on one count of written threats to kill, Grossman said. Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony noted that the boy had a list of names included in the threats.
Pompano Beach Middle School’s Assistant Principal Lisa Livingston reached out to parents and guardians Wednesday regarding the incident.
“Late last night, we became aware of a threatening message posted on social media regarding our school,” she said in the message, adding the situation was under control. “We also want to remind students and families how seriously any and all threats are taken. Parents, please speak with your children to remind them that any threat — even if they think it is a joke — will result in tough consequences.”
The boy’s arrest comes as both the Broward and Miami-Dade school districts have been plagued by dozens of online threats this month after a mass shooting at a school in Michigan in late November.
Several students have been arrested on felony charges, including a 17-year-old student who police say made threats against his school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The Parkland school remains the site of the worst high school mass shooting in U.S. history.
The threats have become so prevalent this school year that BSO is releasing a video aimed at students and parents “addressing the life-altering consequences of making school threats.”
Sheriff Tony told the Herald that aside from the trauma and anxiety these threats cause, there is a tremendous monetary and logistical price tag to investigate what often turns out to be a student’s idea of a joke.
“This costs a lot of money to deploy for something someone thinks is a joke,” Tony said.
But, no matter what the person considers the threat when he or she makes it, deputies investigate each one as if it’s real. Once an arrest is made, that child faces a felony charge that could follow them for the rest of their lives — from trying to get a job, into a college or joining the military.
With the shadow of Parkland still fresh in the minds of many in Broward County, Tony said his office can’t afford to offer students that make threats — even if they’re not meant to be real — any leeway.
“We’re not in the business of identifying humor. We’re not in the business of taking things lightly, especially understanding what this community has been through back in 2018, losing 17 individuals, again the worst school shooting in American history. We can’t afford to look at these kinds of things as a joke,” Gregory said.
This story was originally published December 15, 2021 at 11:54 AM.
