New York, (EFE) – Authorities on Long Island, New York, have arrested a teenager and charged him with a terrorist threat after he suggested a mass shooting at his high school after the Texas massacre, local media reported Friday.
Suffolk County Prosecutor Raymond Tierney told Fox 5 channel and other media that it is an unidentified 16-year-old minor who posted Thursday on an Instagram account that there could be a “mass shooting” in his center, the Bellport Institute, the next day.
Making a terrorist threat
The message, published with the country in full mourning for the massacre of 19 children and 2 teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, this Wednesday, generated alarm among several people who alerted the local police, who investigated and arrested the author that same night.
Detectives later searched his home and concluded there were no weapons.
The teenager has been accused of making a terrorist threat – a crime punishable by jail – and serious harassment.
He is being held without bail and is expected to appear this Friday before a judge in the juvenile division of a court in the Central Islip area of Long Island.
Screenshot
Prosecutor Raymond, who thanked the police for their swift action, told the media that he takes such threats seriously and is committed to dedicating his resources to children’s safety.
In a screenshot of the message shared by the Prosecutor’s Office, you can read “bellport mass shotting tmr?” (mass shooting tomorrow in Bellport?) along with the onomatopoeia “shhh” and a smiley emoji.
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