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San Antonio police arrest 12-year-old over online threats to shoot up schools

Authorities said the youth's online threat wasn't credible, but he still faces seven felony charges.

By Sanford Nowlin on Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 9:31 am

Shutterstock / Schmidt_Alex

SAPD worked with other local and state law enforcement agencies after a minor allegedly circulated a threat on Instagram to shoot up school campuses.

A 12-year-old suspect is facing multiple felony charges over allegations that the youth made terroristic threats to shoot up seven San Antonio schools, according to police.

Authorities arrested the suspect around 8 p.m. Sunday on the 1700 block of South Hamilton Avenue, according to the San Antonio Police Department. The 12-year-old now faces seven charges of terroristic threat-public fear of serious bodily injury.

click to enlarge

Courtesy Image / San Antonio Police Department

Police shared this image, which prompted their arrest of a 12-year-old suspect.

Police said multiple state and local law-enforcement agencies launched a joint investigation after a screenshot of an Instagram story circulated showing an assault rifle with the names of seven San Antonio-area school campuses and dates in September listed under each.

"B ready cuh nt playin wi dis shyt," text at the bottom of the image said. "Ya school getting shot no Kap 100%."

In a statement, San Antonio police said the threats weren't credible. Just the same, department officials said online threats are a serious matter.

"SAPD wants to remind parents to monitor their children's social media activity," the department said in a statement. "The SAPD takes all threats seriously and will arrest when any laws are broken."

The investigation and arrest were coordinated by the Southwest Texas Fusion Center, a multi-agency intelligence hub managed by SAPD. Multiple SAPD departments worked on the case with the Texas Rangers, San Antonio ISD police, Austin ISD police and Edgewood ISD police.

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