ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A 14-year-old St. Petersburg boy is facing charges after he allegedly posted a threat to shoot up schools on Snapchat, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said.
The boy, whose name we are withholding because of his age, was seen in a photo on Snapchat, holding what appeared to be an AR-15 with the caption "Round 3 in Florida on Tuesday."
Deputies were alerted to the photo on Saturday afternoon. After identifying the boy, detectives went to his house.
After introducing themselves, they said the boy immediately replied, "I know why you are here, because of the photo."
The boy grabbed his phone and went to the picture section on his phone and showed detectives the photograph. He admitted he took the selfie and made the post on his Snapchat account.
The boy told detectives he was staying at a friend's house and was checking his Snapchat account and saw another post of someone holding what appeared to be a rifle with the caption "Round 2 on Florida tomorrow".
That post turned out to be from a teen in South Carolina, who has been arrested and charged. The post caused residents in several Florida counties to call their sheriff's offices.
The boy told detectives he thought the post was "messed up." He then saw an AR-15 replica BB gun in the corner of the room, so he grabbed the gun and took a selfie of himself holding the replica. He said he thought it would be "funny" to post the photograph on his Snapchat account and identify Lealman Innovation Academy, the school he attends, as the target.
The boy was arrested and charged with written threats to kill or do bodily injury
The sheriff's office said it has received several calls about threats to commit acts similar to what occurred in Broward County since the day of the school shooting.
No other arrests have been made, but deputies are continuing to investigate the reports.
