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Police: 15-year-old arrested for online shooting threat to middle school in St. Pete

The teen was charged with making a written threat to kill, which is a second-degree felony.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A 15-year-old boy was arrested Monday for posting a shooting threat on social media, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department. 

Police say the teen threatened a shooting at John Hopkins Middle School, where he is in eighth grade. The threat was reported to the school resource officer and the student was arrested at his home.

The teen was charged with making a written threat to kill, which is a second-degree felony.

"The St. Petersburg Police Department takes all school threats very seriously
for the safety of our students. Threatening comments/posts will always be
investigated and result in serious consequences," the department wrote in a release.

This comes after several other middle and high school students at Tampa Bay-area school districts were arrested this month in relation to online threats.

Two middle schoolers, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old, were arrested in separate incidents this month in Pasco County for allegedly posting online threats toward their schools.

At least four Manatee County students were also arrested this month in connection to threats made at Parrish Community High School.

The influx of anonymous bomb and shooting threats prompted the Manatee County Sheriff's Office to launch an investigation while urging families to discuss the serious consequences of making threats.

"This is no joke and it's not going to be tolerated," sheriff's office spokesperson Randy Warren said earlier this month. "They really have to understand that this is no joke and law enforcement is watching it, and we are doing everything that we can along with the school district employees who are trying to get as much good information every day to the students."

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