PARRISH, Fla. — A fourth student was arrested Thursday evening after a handful of arrests were made prior in connection to threats made at Parrish Community High School, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
While investigating numerous false tips about a school shooting at the high school, detectives were able to narrow down a person of interest, the sheriff's office said in an update Thursday night. When they took the student into custody, the "student confessed to detectives about making the false report, 'as a joke.'"
Detectives said this is the fourth student arrested over the span of two days for making school threats. This last student is charged with disruption of an educational institution, which is a second-degree felony. Three other students were arrested for threatening a mass shooting on social media in Manatee County, according to a sheriff's office news release.
Authorities said two students from Parrish Community High School posted similar threatening videos to social media during a bomb threat evacuation on Tuesday.
In one video, a student was "simulating a mass shooting on campus with a toy gun," authorities explained. That student was identified by a school resource officer and arrested Thursday morning.
Multiple investigations are underway as detectives pursue leads on school threat cases, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office confirmed in an earlier update that five threats have been made against Parrish Community High School in the past week. A student who attends Buffalo Creek Middle School was arrested after being accused of posting a video to social media about "shooting up a classroom."