Cocoa Beach boy, 13, arrested, accused of posting social media school shooting threat, police say
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BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A 13-year-old at Cocoa Beach Jr. Sr. High School was arrested Monday, accused of posting a school shooting threat online, according to Cocoa Beach Police.
Cocoa Beach Police said in a news release that the school's resource officer became aware of an electronic threat and that the student was immediately identified and removed from class.
Once detectives and school officials confirmed the social media post, the boy was detained and taken into custody, police said. He's under suspicion for posting an electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting.
Police have not released the boy's name.
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Earlier Monday, a 13-year-old girl was arrested in Flagler County for allegedly posting a threat about a school shooting on social media. An 11-year-old boy was arrested in Volusia County accused of a similar offense.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood released the boy's booking photo (mug shot) and video of him in handcuffs being led by deputies to the jail.
'Do your job': Volusia Sheriff fed up with hoax school threats
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood has strong words for parents and students after his department has seen an increase in bogus school shooting threats. "Parents, do your job," Sheriff Chitwood said. He said his school has spent thousands of dollars investigation potential social media threats targeting schools, some that turned out to be jokes. Some students have been arrested and charged. Sheriff Chitwood threatened if he finds out a parent knew about their student's alleged threats and did nothing about it, he'll arrest them and perp walk them alongside their child.
Last week, Sheriff Chitwood threatened to post the names and photos of kids accused of posting school shooting threats online.
"Parents, you don't want to raise your kids, I'm going to start raising them. Every time we make an arrest, your kid's photo is going to be put out there. And if I could do it, I'm going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kid's up to," he said.
"The second point of this is, if I can in anyway, find out that a parent knew what was going on and wasn't doing anything, your (expletive) is getting ‘perp-walked’ with them."
He said it has cost his agency at least $21,000 to investigate these shooting threats.