MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have arrested a teenage boy accused of threatening his Miami school on social media.
Miami-Dade Schools Police arrested the teen at Young Men’s Preparatory Academy, near Northwest Second Avenue and 30th Street, Tuesday.
Officials said the 13-year-old student posted several threatening remarks online.
“We had a juvenile student who posted on social media several threats against some students and staff,” said Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Edwin Lopez, “so we had an all-out investigation in cooperation with several federal agencies in order to find the root cause or the person that is responsible for making these hoax threats, and today we were able to apprehend the child.”
Detectives said the teen later admitted the posts were meant to be a joke. He faces a felony charge of written threats to kill or do bodily harm and a misdemeanor charge of interference with an educational institution.
Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho used the incident to send a message to students. He said anybody who threatens schools will be dealt with to the full extent of the law, hoax or not.
“Over the past couple of months we’ve seen a surge in threats made against schools and our school system, mainly through social media,” he said, “and I’m going to be very clear about one thing. We have a zero-tolerance policy for this type of nonsense.”
Carvalho also urged parents to talk to their children about posting threatening messages and the consequences this serious offense carries.
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