PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Pinellas County middle school student is in police custody after authorities say she jokingly made a threat to "shoot up" her school.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says it received an anonymous tip Sunday night, saying that the 13-year-old had posted the threat on Snapchat. The post was later shared on TikTok.
In it, investigators say the teenager had said, "I'm Can't be the only one who want to shoot up my school, not going to do it just a thought."
According to the sheriff's office, the student, who attends Pinellas Park Middle School, later deleted the post when she found out other students had taken a screenshot of the message and shared it.
"For all you that reposted, it was a joke and I did not mean it," authorities say the student wrote in a later post.
Deputies say they met with the 13-year-old and her parents to discuss her threats. The student told authorities that it was "just a joke."
The middle schooler was arrested and taken to the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center, the sheriff's office said. She has been charged with one count of making written threats to conduct a mass shooting.
Deputies say she does not have any access to firearms and did not have "the means" to carry out her threat.
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