A 10-year-old has been arrested in Florida after allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting, US police said.
In a statement, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, in Fort Myers, Florida, said it had learned on Saturday that a “threatening text message” had been sent by a student at a primary school.
The local threat enforcement team was notified and started investigating.
A fifth-grade pupil was questioned by officers and later charged with “making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting”, according to police.
In a video shared on Facebook by the sheriff’s office, the boy can be seen being led by an officer into a car.
“This student’s behaviour is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement.
“Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny.
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“This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”
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The arrest came just days after 21 people, including 19 children and two teachers, were killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas.
Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the school on 24 May with a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire.
He was shot dead by officers but questions have been raised about the local law enforcement’s response time and on Sunday, the US Justice Department said it would investigate the response.
