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 capturing, authorities said.

In a press release Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace stated it had discovered earlier that day of a "threatening text message" despatched by a scholar at an elementary faculty.

It said its local school threat enforcement workforce was instantly notified and began investigating. The ten-year-old boy was interviewed and charged later with "making a written menace to conduct a mass shooting," the sheriff's office mentioned.

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

“This pupil’s habits is sickening, especially after the current tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno mentioned in a press release, noting that the threat came just days after the lethal college capturing at Robb Elementary School left 19 students and two lecturers lifeless.

“Right now just isn't the time to behave like a little bit delinquent. It’s not funny,” he stated. “This little one made a pretend threat, and now he’s experiencing actual consequences.”

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

The remark came as authorities in Uvalde face mounting criticism over their response to the May 24 faculty capturing after it came to gentle that they waited roughly an hour for backup as an alternative of immediately shifting in on the gunman.

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