Florida 5th grader arrested for mass shooting threat

A fifth-grader in Florida was arrested on Saturday for threatening to carry out a mass shooting via text message, police reported.

The 10-year-old boy, a student at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral, was handcuffed and placed in a police cruiser on Saturday night for threatening in writing to carry out a mass shooting, the New York Post reports. 

"This student's behavior is disgusting, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas," Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement. "Making sure our children are safe is paramount."

5TH GRADER ARRESTED FOR MAKING WRITTEN THREAT

“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,” stated Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

Full release below. https://t.co/hVxwOmUFsD pic.twitter.com/kq95Gq1DVH

— Carmine Marceno - Florida’s Law and Order Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) May 28, 2022

The Sheriff's Office School Threat Enforcement Team was informed of the alarming messages, and the Juvenile Services Criminal Investigations Division soon took over the case due to the young age of the child.

Marceno said that the officers were quick to investigate threats of mass shootings. 

"We will have law and order in our schools! My team did not hesitate for one second...NOT ONE SECOND, to investigate this threat," he said.

Officers responding to the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 fourth-grade students and two teachers are facing backlash for their tardy response. It took police nearly an hour to storm the classrooms where all the shootings occurred and kill gunman Salvador Ramos.

Detectives interviewed the Florida boy, whose name the Post is withholding because he is a minor, and developed probable cause for his arrest, police said. 

"Right now is not the time to act like a petty criminal. It's not funny," Marceno said. "This kid made a false threat and now he's experiencing real consequences."