A threatened shooting at a New York-area school resulted in the arrest of a teenage student who claimed he had no plans to carry out mass violence.
Police were alerted to a possible threat involving a Queens high school two days after an armed attacker killed 21 people, most of them children. at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Calls to 9-1-1 alerted officers to a threatening message left on the school desk by an 18-year-old student that read in part: “I’m going to shoot up the school, like in Texas, get ready,” according to a criminal complaint.
The message was found on the morning of May 26 at school Forest Hills High School.
“I was playing and I just wrote it down,” the student told officials, according to details in the complaint.
“Our hearts had not even begun to heal from the horrific school shooting in Texas when the defendant allegedly made similar threats right here in Queens County. We are committed to keeping our students safe and will thoroughly investigate all potential threats of harm,” said District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Charges have been filed against the student for making a terroristic threat, criminal mischief, graffiti and aggravated harassment.
The student’s arrest shares similarities with one exactly a week later on Long Island, where authorities said a student referenced the Texas shooting when he threatened to “shoot up the school.” This student was 13 years old.
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