VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) — A child is receiving a lesson in the law after a social media post sparked a scare at school and prompted detectives to take quick action.
Investigators in Volusia County say the 12-year-old allegedly posted a detailed plot to attack a middle school.
“Of all the threats that we arrest, this wasn’t one where someone just says, ‘That’s it, I’m bringing a gun to school and shoot one person,'” said Sheriff Mike Chitwood. sitting down, saying I’m bringing a gun to school to shoot one person.”
Video posted to social media shows deputies walking Josephine “Christian” Simmons-Peters to jail.
Investigators say they were tipped off about a planned shooting at Southwestern Middle School in DeLand from FortifyFlorida, an anonymous reporting platform for school threats.
Chitwood said a person found Simmons-Peters’ alleged manifesto on a website.
“This was a well-thought-out plan. It talks about where to hide in a ditch. It talks about where to bring the guns into the school. It talks about who to target,” Chitwood said.
Excerpts of the alleged manifesto shown by investigators detailed graphic language and include a 13-step plan to shoot students, staff, the school resource officer, and then herself.
The sheriff said the girl specifically named students she said bullied her.
“That’s no excuse to be writing out a manifesto and talking about how you’re going to wipe people off the face of the earth. There are steps in place that you go to and you use.”
After a search of her home, investigators did not recover any firearms.
“Kids get hold of guns very easily. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in their parents’ home. In today’s day and age, they know where to buy guns on the streets,” said Chitwood.
Parents at the middle school were relieved to hear deputies had made an arrest.
“It’s always going on around everywhere, and it just seems no one wants to take accountability and responsibility for their students,” said a parent.
Chitwood added that this isn’t Simmons-Peters’ first run-in with the law. She was previously caught making threats against a student.
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