Florida fifth grader arrested, charged with threatening a mass shooting, police say

A fifth grade student in Florida was arrested over the weekend and charged with sending a textual content message threatening to carry out a mass taking pictures, authorities said.

In a statement Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office mentioned it had realized earlier that day of a "threatening text message" sent by a student at an elementary faculty.

It stated its local college risk enforcement staff was immediately notified and started investigating. The ten-year-old boy was interviewed and charged later with "making a written menace to conduct a mass taking pictures," the sheriff's workplace said.

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

“This scholar’s conduct is sickening, particularly after the current tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno mentioned in an announcement, noting that the threat came just days after the lethal faculty capturing at Robb Elementary College left 19 students and two teachers dead.

“Proper now is just not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not humorous,” he mentioned. “This youngster made a faux threat, and now he’s experiencing actual consequences.”

Marceno said his team “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 came to gentle that they waited roughly an hour for backup as an alternative of immediately moving in on the gunman.

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