A Florida teenager was arrested over the weekend after police received information that he had posted "electronic threats" about a school shooting.
Louis Henry Anderson Jr., 15, was detained by deputies from the Madison County Sheriff's Office on Sunday after the department received a tip-off about the concerning messages at approximately 10:35 p.m. the same day, police said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Anderson Jr., who is a student at James Madison Preparatory High, allegedly wrote in a group chat about bringing a firearm to his school and shooting people, WTXL reported.
The sheriff's office said the suspect was quickly identified and located at his home address. The teenager claimed his digital post had been a "joke" and that he "didn't mean anything by it." He was still charged by officers with Written Electronic Threats to Kill or Bodily Harm.
Upon investigation, the Madison County sheriff said there was "no indication that the student took any further actions to plan or prepare to carry out the threat." The student was arrested and transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice without further incident.
On social media, local law enforcement released Anderson Jr.'s mugshot and issued a warning to Florida teenagers that threats of school violence in the state are not taken lightly.
News Release (August 26, 2019) Madison County Sheriff’s Office reports that on Sunday night, August 25, 2019 at...
Posted by Madison County Sheriff's Office on Monday, August 26, 2019
A police statement said: "The Madison County Sheriff's Office reminds everyone including all students that any threat made against schools will be taken very seriously. Any individual(s) who make threats of school violence will be thoroughly investigated and charged."
Earlier this month, on August 7, the Leon County Sheriff's Office announced that a 13-year-old student was arrested after referencing a school shooting in a social media conversation. Police received a tip-off about the comment made online by a Swift Creek Middle School student.
The same week, it emerged that a high school student in Florida's Wakulla County was under investigation after a "social media post of a threatening nature" was flagged by the FBI.
"The Wakulla County School system encourages all parents to talk with their children about the serious consequences for students when making threatening posts on social media and digital communication," the school board said in a statement.
Such threats are, of course, not limited to Florida. On August 7, a Georgia school was forced to bulk up security after police became aware of a threat which had been made on Snapchat.
A teenager was taken into custody after claiming they were going to bring weapons to a school located in Lowndes County. "Anything like that we're going to take very seriously, especially in this climate. Look at El Paso, look at Ohio, look at all the other things," said local sheriff Ashley Paulk, referencing two recent mass shootings. "I want parents to be aware that they need to... monitor what their children do."
