PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – Across the country, communities are dealing with a wave of school shooting threats that are sparking emergency notifications, Facebook group posts and heightened fears for families.
In the same week, three students in Putnam County have been charged with making threats against their schools.
A 13-year-old student at Palatka Junior-Senior High School was arrested Monday after deputies said he made a written threat against two fellow students that included photos of two firearms.
The student was charged with sending a written threat to kill after the two girls who were sent the photos reported them to a school administrator.
Deputies said the 13-year-old had asked the girls to pick which weapon he should use to carry out a school shooting.
“He knew he was threatening other students and he continued to do so. I cannot say it loud enough -- stop the nonsense, stop making threats and stop sharing social media posts to cause disruption and chaos,” Sheriff H.D. “Gator” DeLoach said in a news release. “I am done playing.”
That same night, an 11-year-old student at Putnam Academy of Arts and Sciences was charged with a written threat to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, a second-degree felony.
Deputies said the student, who lives in East Palatka, posted a photo of what appeared to be firearms to a group text thread, saying “Don’t come to school tomorrow.”
When the 11-year-old was arrested, deputies took possession of the airsoft guns from the photo.
“We want to thank the parent who monitored the group text message and immediately reported this incident to deputies. Parents, we are asking all of you to monitor your child’s electronics, who they are texting, what they are watching and who they are gaming online with,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Two days later, a 14-year-old student was arrested on Wednesday and accused of using a computer at Interlachen Junior-Senior High School to make a threat.
The sheriff’s office said an app the school uses to monitor threats was alerted to the words “I have a gun” being typed by a student on a computer.
Deputies said the 14-year-old blamed a Spanish-speaking student for making the threat, but a different student told the Sheriff’s Office that the Spanish-speaking student did not use the computer.
Deputies said the Spanish-speaking student was asked by the 14-year-old to translate the phrase, but he refused.
DeLoach issued another strong message after the second student was arrested:
“First to create a false threat is enough for a one-way ticket to the Department of Juvenile Justice, but then to stoop so low as to take advantage of a Spanish-speaking student in an attempt to set that student up for an arrest is despicable and inexcusable. I hope he has time to think and reflect while he is at DJJ on the stupidity of his actions and his treatment of a fellow student.”
The Sheriff’s Office said the 14-year-old did not have a weapon when he was arrested. He was charged with false report of a weapon of mass destruction, a second-degree felony.