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 textual content message threatening to carry out a mass shooting, authorities mentioned.

In an announcement Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace said it had learned earlier that day of a "threatening textual content message" despatched by a scholar at an elementary school.

It mentioned its native school threat enforcement team was immediately notified and started investigating. The 10-year-old boy was interviewed and charged later with "making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting," the sheriff's office mentioned.

In video shared by authorities, the boy might be seen being led right into a police car.

“This student’s behavior is sickening, particularly after the latest tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a press release, noting that the threat got here just days after the deadly faculty capturing at Robb Elementary School left 19 college students and two lecturers lifeless.

“Right now will not be the time to act like somewhat delinquent. It’s not funny,” he said. “This child made a fake menace, and now he’s experiencing real penalties.”

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

The comment got here as authorities in Uvalde face mounting criticism over their response to the May 24 college shooting after it got here to mild 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 News Digital based in London.