Police announced on Monday that a 10-year-old kid who allegedly threatened to carry out a school shooting at a middle school in Kerrville, Texas, has been charged with making a terrorist threat, a felony.
The Kerrville Police Department said in a statement that the child, whose identity was withheld by the authorities, posted “a hoax threat to social media with the intent of causing alarm or panic.”
In response to threats on social media that they would carry out a shooting at Hal Peterson Middle School on Tuesday, the police department announced that they “immediately initiated a thorough investigation into these threats.”
After conducting an investigation in collaboration with district officials, school resource officers discovered that the 10-year-old had created the fake social media posts.
Police stated that “no valid threat to Hal Peterson Middle School existed.”
On Facebook, the school announced that counselors had visited students during the past week to present the “See Something Say Something” campaign, which encourages individuals to report suspicious activities.
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A school shooting threat is a felony, according to the police, and such threats are taken extremely seriously. Similar alerts have been issued by law enforcement organizations across; the Volusia County, Florida, sheriff’s office released the mug photographs and “perp walk” footage of students who were arrested.
“The legal consequences for people who make threats, including juveniles, can be severe and permanent,” Kerrville police stated. “We strongly urge parents to speak with their children about the seriousness of making threats, or posting information to social media that reference violence to our schools. Remind your children that school threats are a felony and will have serious consequences.”
