HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — A teenage student was arrested Monday morning after he reportedly made threats to shoot at teachers at a school in Hernando County.
The 13-year-old faces a charge of sending a threat to conduct a mass shooting.
The investigation began around 1:10 p.m. Saturday after deputies received a call from a parent of a student who attended Winding Waters K-8 in Weeki Wachee. They say two of her child's classmates were threatening to cause a school shooting, the Hernando County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The parent's student told authorities they were on a FaceTime call with two other classmates and saw them play with what looked like a real gun while making threats to shoot several teachers when they got back to school, deputies said.
"During this FaceTime call, the classmates making the threats told the reporting student not to come to school on Monday because they were going to shoot multiple teachers and staff," the sheriff's office wrote in a statement. "In addition to the FaceTime call, a threat was also posted to social media by one of the classmates."
One of the classmates who made the threats was the teen arrested, and deputies were able to talk to him – along with his parents – at their home to let them know of the allegations made against him.
The 13-year-old student reportedly admitted to saying such things during the FaceTime call, but he said that because another student was threatening to shoot him first. He also continued to say he was not involved in making any threats and that it was his friend on the FaceTime call who said they were going to shoot at the teacher the next school day.
Authorities say the student did have a plastic BB gun that looked like a handgun in his possession.
"Contact was then made with the other classmate and caregiver at their residence," the sheriff's office said. "During the interview, the student denied that the comments about shooting teachers at Winding Waters K-8 were made, stating that they were only playing video games."
The sheriff's office did not find any weapons at the classmate's home. However, the teen student and his classmate were still asked to be driven to the school's district headquarters on Monday to talk with deputies and administration.
As a result, the 13-year-old was arrested and taken to the Hernando County Detention Center.
At the time of this writing, deputies say no charges have been filed on the other classmate.
The investigation of the school shooting threats remains ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to contact Hernando County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-990-TIPS.