Florida 5th grader arrested over school shooting threat

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (AP) - A fifth-grade student was arrested Saturday for allegedly making a threat toward his Florida elementary school in the wake of last week’s mass shooting in Texas.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office shared a video of deputies taking the 10-year-old into custody over the weekend.

“We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second…NOT ONE SECOND, to investigate this threat,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.

The department said the student faces a charge of making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting after he sent a text message about a planned shooting at Patriot Elementary in Lee County.

“This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Marceno said in a statement. “Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny. This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”

In a Facebook video, the sheriff’s office showed a deputy walking the boy to a squad car. The Associated Press is not identifying the child because of his age.

Sheriff’s officials did not say whether the boy remained in a juvenile facility or was released to his parents.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved.