Deputies: Marion County teen arrested after posting mass school shooting threat to Snapchat
MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A 14-year-old Marion County student is facing serious charges after deputies say he posted a threat on Snapchat to shoot up two schools.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office arrested the teenager who they say is a 9th grader at Belleview High School.
According to deputies, they began investigating reports of a threat to commit a mass shooting that was made on the social media app Snapchat. Belleview Middle School and Belleview High School were reportedly named as the targets.
"As a result of the threat, 470 students were absent from Belleview High School and 604 were absent from Belleview Middle School on Tuesday, February 11, 2020," the Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies say they identified the 14-year-old suspect as the person who had posted the threat. They say the boy was also the person who made the initial report to the Sheriff's Office and blamed an unknown person for the post.
After interviewing the teen, deputies say he admitted to creating the post himself.
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"Marion County Public Schools and the Marion County Sheriff’s Office take every threat seriously and have taken a zero tolerance stance for this type of behavior. The safety of the children in our community is paramount and threats like this that work to disrupt our educational systems and our community will always be addressed seriously."
The teen is charged with sending a written threat to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting. He is being held on no bond.
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