A total of nine Broward County students, ranging in age from 11 to 15 years of age, have been arrested by Broward Sheriff’s Office Threat Management Unit (TMU) detectives for making threats against schools since just before the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

BSO urges parents, caregivers, teachers, mentors and anyone who works closely with children and teens to reinforce the message to think before they post and make sure that their online messaging is respectful and appropriate. It has been repeated many times – if someone makes a threat, law enforcement will consider it real, investigate it fully and, if appropriate, arrest the person making the threat. An arrest can have lifelong consequences.

The cases are outlined below.

Saturday, Aug. 10, BSO Case Number 08-2408-001019

On Saturday, Aug. 10, TMU investigators received a tip from the FBI regarding a post made by a 13-year-old male on Snapchat. During the investigation, detectives learned the student posted a partial photo of himself, which included a written threat to commit a mass shooting at BCPS offices in Fort Lauderdale. Detectives say the student was upset over BCPS’s new student cellphone policy. The teen was tracked down at his home in Weston and taken into custody that same day. The teen was arrested on charges of written threats to kill and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.

Thursday, Aug. 15, BSO Case Number 16-2408-000993

On Thursday, Aug. 15, TMU detectives received another tip from the FBI about a Broward County student making threats against Cooper City High School on Snapchat. Detectives say the threat investigation led to the arrest of a 13-year-old female. According to detectives, the teen confessed to making the post and said it was intended as a joke. She was charged with written threats to kill and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.

A link to a news release on these two incidents can be found HERE.

Wednesday, Sept. 4, BSO Case Number 10-2409-000633

According to investigators, at approximately 11:34 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 4, Broward County Regional Communications received reports of a bomb threat at Somerset Academy Key Middle/High School in Deerfield Beach. BSO deputies and detectives with BSO’s Threat Management Unit responded to investigate.

During the investigation, BSO’s TMU detectives obtained information that led to the arrest of a sixth grader. Detectives said the male admitted making the threat. The juvenile was detained and taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center for processing. The 11-year-old faces one count of false reporting of a bomb, explosive or weapon of mass destruction.

Friday, Sept. 6, BSO Case Number 11-2409-0001828

BSO TMU detectives investigated a threat made by a Blanche Ely High School student who put a post on Snapchat saying, “…Im shooting this school up…” The 14-year-old male confessed to making the threat. He was charged with making a written threat to kill and using a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.

Saturday, Sept. 7, BSO Case Number 90-2409-002058

According to detectives, a student posted multiple stories on Instagram on Saturday afternoon that contained threats. One post listed several schools across Broward County that would be targeted with violence. Other posts contained additional threats of a school shooting or other violence. Multiple individuals saw these posts online and reported them to law enforcement.

Using investigative methods, detectives traced the threats to a 14-year-old female in Lauderdale Lakes. When confronted with the information by detectives, the teen confessed to making the threats and said she intended them as a joke.

Following her arrest, the teen was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center for processing. She faces charges of making written threats to kill/conduct a mass shooting, threat to throw, project, place or discharge any destructive device and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Find the link to the news release HERE.

Sunday, Sept. 8, BSO Case Number 90-2509-002136

BSO TMU detectives began investigating a school shooting threat made on Instagram against Central Charter School in Lauderdale Lakes. The investigation led detectives to an 11-year-old male. The male confessed to making the threat and was arrested for written threats to kill/conduct a mass shooting and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Sunday, Sept. 8, BSO Case Number 16-2409-000462

Detectives received information that a student at Cooper City High School threatened to shoot a classmate. The threat was communicated via WhatsApp. TMU detectives spoke with the 15-year-old and he confessed to making the threat. The teen was arrested for written threats to kill and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Tuesday, Sept. 10, BSO Case Number 04-2409-000805

Late Monday night, BSO received information about a threat made on social media regarding Broward County Public Schools. Detectives with BSO’s TMU and Broward County Public Schools Police responded to investigate.

According to detectives, a student posted threats to several schools across Broward County in Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise. Using investigative methods, detectives traced the threats to a 12-year-old female in Lauderhill. When confronted with the information by detectives, the student confessed to making the threats and said she intended them as a joke. She said she did not intend to carry out the threat and that she had already deleted the account.

Following her arrest, the 12-year-old was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center for processing. She faces charges of making written threats to kill/conduct a mass shooting and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Tuesday, Sept. 10, BSO Case Number 90-2409-002809

The FBI notified BSO’s TMU that a threat was posted on TikTok about a shooting threat at North Broward Preparatory School. TMU detectives traced the threat to a 13-year-old in Parkland. When detectives questioned the teen she confessed to sending the post and said she did it in response to a dare from friends. The teen said she meant it as a joke and did not intend to harm anyone. Detectives arrested her on charges of written threats to kill and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Throughout all of these investigations, BSO’s TMU and Real Time Crime Center detectives worked closely with multiple law enforcement agencies to investigate these cases.

Prior to the start of the 2024-25 school year, Broward Sheriff Dr. Gregory Tony spoke about these types of threats, the consequences of making threats and the law enforcement response to investigate threats. His comments can be found in this NEWS CONFERENCE at the 9:05 mark.

Finally, making school threats is no joke. Under Florida law, whether it is said aloud, written in text, or posted on social media, an individual can be charged with a felony for written threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting. Anyone who sees or hears these types of threats should immediately report them to law enforcement or submit them to the SaferWatch app or through FortifyFL.