Florida fifth grader arrested, charged with threatening a mass shooting, police say

A fifth grade pupil in Florida was arrested over the weekend and charged with sending a text message threatening to carry out a mass shooting, authorities mentioned.

In a press release Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office mentioned it had realized earlier that day of a "threatening textual content message" sent by a scholar at an elementary school.

It mentioned its native faculty threat enforcement crew was instantly notified and started investigating. The ten-year-old boy was interviewed and charged later with "making a written risk to conduct a mass taking pictures," the sheriff's workplace said.

In video shared by authorities, the boy could be seen being led into a police vehicle.

“This student’s habits is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno stated in a press release, noting that the threat got here simply days after the deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary College left 19 college students and two teachers useless.

“Proper now shouldn't be the time to behave like slightly delinquent. It’s not humorous,” he mentioned. “This youngster made a faux risk, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”

Marceno mentioned his workforce “didn’t hesitate one second...NOT ONE SECOND,” to research the incident.

The remark got here as authorities in Uvalde face mounting criticism over their response to the May 24 school taking pictures after it got here to light that they waited roughly an hour for backup as an alternative of instantly shifting in on the gunman.

Chantal Da Silva is a breaking information editor for NBC Information Digital based mostly in London.