HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Two teen girls were arrested this week in connection to shooting threats at their respective Hillsborough County schools.
Deputies first responded around 2:30 p.m. Thursday to Bloomingdale High School in Valrico for reports that a student made a threat on social media.
They met with a 15-year-old girl who reportedly posted a photo on Snapchat with the caption, "ok imma shoot up the school."
She was arrested and charged with one count of written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device. Detectives said they do not believe the teen had access to any weapons.
The second arrest was made the next day at Dowdell Middle Magnet School in Tampa.
Deputies responded to the school at 7:42 a.m. Friday after receiving a tip that a student was threatening to carry out a shooting.
According to the sheriff's office, a 13-year-old girl posted a note on her Instagram that said, "im the one whos gonna shoot up dowdell middle magnet."
Detectives met with the girl just before 8:30 a.m. She claimed that the note was meant as a joke.
The 13-year-old was also arrested and charged with one count of written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting and one count of unlawful use of a two-way communications device. She did not have any weapons on her at the time of her arrest.
"It's horrific to see that, in just two days, we've had students making online threats as jokes. Let me be clear. These threats are not funny, and they come with serious consequences," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement.
The investigation into both threats is ongoing.
The arrests come the same week a 14-year-old boy allegedly killed two teachers and two students and injured several others in a mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia.
