TAMPA, Fla. — A father was arrested on Friday for threatening to conduct a mass shooting at his child's elementary school, the Tampa Police Department reports.
Police say around 7:45 a.m. Friday, 35-year-old Estaban Del Valle sent a "threatening text message" to a person with whom he shares a young child.
Del Valle was reportedly upset about the child's suspension from Gorrie Elementary School. In the text message, he threatened to "shoot up the school" and specifically target teachers, according to the police department.
Upon receiving the text message, the person immediately contacted school administrators who notified the police.
Tampa police located Del Valle at his home on Grove Street in Clearwater and arrested him with assistance from the Clearwater Police Department.
He was charged with written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting and transported to the Pinellas County Jail.
Del Valle's alleged threat came about an hour before several school threats placed Newsome High School, another school in Hillsborough County, on lockdown for several hours.
"No student or teacher should ever feel unsafe going to school. It should be clear that this type of behavior is not tolerated in the Tampa Bay area and that law enforcement will use every available resource to investigate, apprehend, and hold offenders accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Chief Lee Bercaw said.
