In the days since the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, police have been busy with a flood of copycat threats. At least five people – many of them teenage students, have been arrested across the country.
A 23-year-old man was taken into custody in Wisconsin after someone sent “an electronic message” to the FBI threatening to “shoot up the school,” according to an NBC affiliate. That threat did not name a specific school.
Closer to the Parkland school shooting, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School case, was made aware of a 15-year-old boy threatened to kill people at several Broward County schools, the Palm Beach Post reported. He said it was a joke to “scare his cousin.” He now faces a felony charge of sending a written threat to kill.
A student in Brevard County, Fla, which is near Orlando, was also arrested Friday after she posted a photo with a gun to Snapchat captioned, “I’m coming space coast watch out,” and a smiley face, Florida Today reported. The username connected to the account was “brevardshooter.” She said she thought the post was “funny” and was charged with issuing a written threat to kill or do bodily harm.
An 11-year-old in Davie, Fla., allegedly wrote a note threatening to bring a gun to school and kill students and teachers, an NBC affiliate reported. She was arrested Thursday and charged with written threats to kill.
In South Carolina, a high school student allegedly posted a picture on Snapchat with what looked like an assault rifle captioned, “Round 2 of Florida tomorrow,”a Fox affiliate reported. While it was later revealed that the gun in the photo was fake and the student did not have access to weapons, the student was arrested Thursday and charged with disturbing schools.
The police chief in Arlington, Texas said the department arrested two 16-year-olds for an online post and threatening wall graffiti. They face a terroristic threat charge, which is a felony. Police did not say where the posts were made.