GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. – A 14-year-old Clay High School student was arrested after police said an alleged mass shooting threat made on Roblox was traced back to the teenager.
Students returned to class Thursday with extra law enforcement at the school following the arrest.
Green Cove Springs police said the investigation began Wednesday after the FBI forwarded information it received through what police described as a TTL Guardian, or Threat-to-Life, tip.
According to police, the tip involved a Roblox user who allegedly threatened to commit a mass shooting at Clay High School.
Green Cove Springs police said investigators identified the Roblox user as a 14-year-old Clay High student who lives within Green Cove Springs city limits. Police said their investigation led to the student’s arrest.
The teenager was taken to the Duval Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
The student is accused of violating Florida’s law prohibiting written or electronic threats to kill, cause bodily injury, conduct a mass shooting or commit an act of terrorism.
As students arrived for class Thursday morning, 10th grader Kaylee Schichtel told News4JAX that hearing about a threat at her school leaves students questioning how seriously they should take it.
“You have to worry if the threats are real, if you are even going to make it out of school that day,” Schichtel said. “Just there are crazy people out here.”
Schichtel said this was not the first time during her time at Clay High that she had heard about a threat involving the school.
“This is not the first time I have heard of a threat and cops are actively at our school for it. Throughout the two years I’ve been here, there have been numerous threats,” Schichtel said. “I just think it’s crazy that you would joke around with a threat, because there are big consequences for that. And there are some people who are really messed up in the head that like would do that. And I think we shouldn’t joke about threats because the officers have bigger problems to deal with.”
Police have not said in the information released so far whether investigators found any weapons or evidence of a specific plan to carry out the alleged threat.
The Green Cove Springs Police Department and Clay County School District said in a joint statement that they take all threats involving schools seriously and that threats of violence will not be tolerated.
News4JAX is working to learn more about what prompted the initial Threat-to-Life tip, what investigators found during their investigation and whether the student had access to any weapons.
