INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — A 7th grade Storm Grove Middle School student was arrested after deputies said he posted a social media threat targeting the campus.
The incident comes a week after an 18-year-old was arrested after posting a social media threat targeting a high school, causing the campus to be placed on a brief lock down. No injuries were reported in the previous incident.
“This is our third arrest in as many weeks related to threats against schools on social media. We take each one of these threats seriously, with our team working all night for a peaceful resolution in this case,” Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar said in a statement. “We want to assure parents this student will not be in school tomorrow, and that we work hard every single day to ensure the safety of our entire district.”
For the most recent incident, deputies said they learned about the threats, posted to the social media app Snapchat, on Saturday. Deputies quickly identified the student overnight.
The student lives in Indian River County, but was apprehended in Sunny Isles, where he was visiting relatives, sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Eric Flowers said. Deputies detained the student and charged him with written threats to kill, deputies said.
The student will be taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Fort Pierce. Anyone who sees or hears about a threat targeting a school can call 911, Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 1-800-273-TIPS or tcwatch.org, or the sheriff’s school tip line at 772-978-6000.
Residents can also download the app FortifyFL to report school threats. FortifyFL was designed as a reporting system for school safety after the Feb. 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
