MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - Miramar Police assigned additional officers to Glades Middle School after a student received a threat from an unknown number.
A student of the school, located along the 16000 block of Southwest 48th Court, received a text Tuesday night alerting him of a shooting, police said.
The text message read, “Hello, this is Glades Middle School and I’m sending a text because your child will be suspended starting tomorrow for taking videos in your first period chorus class there are no videos or pictures allowed to be taken in school. Thanks, Glades Middle School.”
The text message was followed by two additional messages reading “It’s a prank” and “But I’m shooting that school in first period.”
“Basically the message said that there was going to be a shooting here at the school,” Miramar Police spokesperson Tania Ruiz said.
Police said the student read the threatening message and told his parents, who contacted authorities.
“We want to thank the students who told their parents. We want to thank the parents who contacted the proper authorities and remind everyone: If you see something, say something,” Ruiz said.
(1/2) A Glades Middle School student received a text message, from an unknown number, alerting him of a shooting tomorrow at the school. The student told his parents, who contacted authorities. (Continued)
— Miramar Police (@MiramarPD) February 6, 2019
(2/2) As we continue to investigate to determine the credibility of this threat, out of an abundance of caution, additional police officers have been assigned to the school tomorrow. #SeeSomethingSaySomething
— Miramar Police (@MiramarPD) February 6, 2019
Other parents contacted Miramar police saying their children also received a text message threat reading “I’m going to shoot the school tomorrow during first period @10 a.m.”
“We started getting more phone calls,” Ruiz said. “This spread like wildfire.”
Students were on edge as they headed to the school.
“There’s no reason to threaten middle school students,” Jordan Bennett said.
“It makes me feel scared that the police are here, that something like this major may happen,” Zoey Witted added.
One parent said she was grateful the school had previously prepared for potential threats.
“I know that the school trained the kids,” parent Adeline Clephet said. “They have a lot of drills, a lot of precaution they do in the school.”
Over a dozen officers began patrolling the school at around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
“I felt more protected because everywhere I go, I just see police, police, police and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s gonna be no shooters now because we have all these people protecting us,’ and all that. I felt more safe than other school days, actually,” student Milton Lugo said.
If you have any information on who sent these threatening text messages, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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