JACKSONVILLE, Fla — (Note: The video above is from Tuesday, Jan. 19.)
A 17-year-old was arrested after reportedly making a shooting threat at Baker County High School earlier this week, the Baker County Sheriff's Office announced Friday.
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, several students received screenshots of a Snapchat message, which went viral on social media. The screenshot included a threat made by an anonymous source claiming to commit a shooting at the school, causing the school to go under lockdown out of caution.
Following the incident, deputies with the sheriff's office and the school investigated the threat and identified the suspect on Thursday, Jan. 21.
The 17-year-old suspect was taken into custody and charged with transmitting written threats to kill and/or conduct a mass shooting, as well as disruption of a school function.
First Coast News chose not to name the teen because he is a minor.
“The cooperative effort between the Baker County School System and the Baker County Sheriff’s Office once again resulted in a positive outcome," Sheriff Scotty Rhoden said in a statement. "Parents should continue to have discussions with their kids about the severe consequences of transmitting threats on social media. The Sheriff's Office will continue to be relentless in our efforts to investigate and arrest individuals who use social media to post threatening statements. I want to once again thank our detectives for their outstanding work in this case. Families, please remind your children the importance of the ‘See Something, Say Something’ message. As a community, we will continue to work together to keep our children safe. May God continue to guide and protect everything we do to keep our schools a safe place.”