PALM COAST, Fla. – A 14-year-old Palm Coast High School student was arrested Tuesday after posting a written threat on Snapchat saying he planned to “shoot up” the school, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.
A school resource deputy met with the student and a parent at Flagler-Palm Coast High School after the student said he had posted the message at the end of the school day on April 27. The student told deputies he wrote in a group chat with 13 other students, “slimeyou out #dontcome to school,” and said “slimeyou” meant to hurt or shoot. He said he was removed from the group and later rejoined, then apologized and called the message a joke.
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Screenshots provided by another student in the chat contradicted that account, showing messages that read, “Everybody getting shot up,” “#Don’tComeToSchoolTomorrow” and “I’m joking,” the sheriff’s office said.
When confronted with the screenshots, the student told deputies he had tried to be “edgy” with dark humor and now understands the seriousness of the messages.
Deputies arrested the student on a charge of making a written or electronic threat to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism. He was taken to the Sheriff Perry Hall inmate detention facility and later transferred to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for threats to schools,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “This is not a joke; it is not funny. All threats will be taken seriously and will be investigated, and those who make them will be arrested. Parents, be the sheriff of your home and teach them that words have consequences and know what your children are saying and doing online.”