January 1, Parkland Student Arrested after Shooting Threat

A South Florida teenager has been arrested after authorities learned he made a threat against Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of a mass shooting that killed 17 people in 2018.

According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, a caller reported seeing the threat late Wednesday night. Officials said the student sent a text message to his classmates in a social media chat room shortly after 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

The threat came one day after a student opened fire at Oxford High School in Michigan.

“I feel like school shooting tmrw (tomorrow). When I sneeze it’s a signal go to the bathroom OK. I hope y’all aren’t snitches,” the text message read, according to an affidavit.

The sheriff’s office said the 17-year-old high school junior was charged with one count of writing a threat to conduct a mass shooting.

The teen’s mother told local media that he didn’t mean it. She said that to him, it was a joke. At the time of the Parkland massacre, she said, they lived in another country that didn’t have gun violence in its schools.

“He’s a normal kid from a normal family and a safe environment. He doesn’t realize the world is not so safe,” she said. “It’s not an excuse for his behavior. It’s just an explanation for his behavior. All threats must be investigated. I understand that.”

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Parkland, Florida student arrested in school shooting threat