POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Students and parents in Polk County were on high alert Wednesday after a middle school parent said her daughter's school experienced a false threat and a 15-year-old student was arrested at a high school for bringing a gun to the campus.
"I was like really scared," Kallyn Hineline said.
The fear of the unknown sent her mind wondering.
"I knew even after I got picked up, all my friends were still there," she said.
At 12 years old, Kallyn, a seventh grader at Lake Gibson Middle School, said she didn't know what to think when she received a Snapchat warning about another student threatening to shoot up the school during fifth period.
"I texted my mom the photo and then she was like, 'do I need to come pick you up?' I said 'yeah,' 'cause I didn't want to be at school," Kallyn said.
Her mom, Stephanie Kackritz, said she text her back letting her know she would be getting picked up from school Wednesday. Stephanie said she didn't want her daughter at school with even the possibility of a shooting.
However, the school called parents to later tell them after an investigation the threat proved to be false, Kackritz said. Security was stepped up out of precaution.
At Tenoroc High School, a 15-year-old student was arrested after bringing a gun to school on Wednesday.
"It's all too close in the same area," Kackritz said. "I have chills now – just even thinking about it."
Just after 8 a.m., the school resource officer at Tenoroc High School received an anonymous tip that a student brought a gun to school, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.
After finding the 15-year-old student, they reportedly found a pistol in his jacket pocket along with a magazine with 12 rounds in his pants pocket.
An investigation revealed the teen threatened a student with the gun as well, the sheriff's office explains. He was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school campus, carrying a concealed firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, disruption of a school function, possession of a firearm by someone under 18 and possession of a firearm with an altered serial number.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the student had no previous record.
A similar report from students across the Bay at St. Petersburg High School led to the arrests of two ninth-grade girls, the police department said.
St. Petersburg police Sgt. Jaterio Jones said students aren't realizing their words have consequences.
"They make these things out of anger and don't realize the severity behind this threat, and that it can't be taken as a joke," Jones said. "This not a joke, you can't make this even out of anger."
The St. Petersburg Police Department said they have seen an uptick in the number of threats reported at area schools.
"As soon as we get it or there's a tip that come in, we jump on it," he added.