Sheriff: Boy made online threats to shoot up his school
DELTONA, Fla. (AP) — A 13-year-old Florida boy was arrested Saturday after the sheriff's office received numerous tips about an Instagram account that contained threats to shoot up his middle school, officials said.
The tips started coming in on Friday evening after people noticed the threats about a shooting at Heritage Middle School in Deltona on Jan. 23, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook.
Investigators from the sheriff's office worked with the Domestic Security Unit and the Volusia County Crime Center to trace the account to an address in Deltona where they located the boy accused of creating the account.
The boy told investigators he was only joking about the shooting, sheriff's officials said.
He was taken into custody on a charge of making written threats to kill or cause a mass shooting. He was taken to a juvenile justice facility.
The sheriff's office continues to investigate the case.