When someone threatened their school on social media, these students took action

About 20 students marched into Team Success charter school on Tuesday morning and reported a threat on social media to school leaders.

Team Success principal Armando Viota said more than 20 students at the Title I charter school in Manatee County — which shares facilities with the Police Athletic League at 13th Avenue East — came to administrators with proof of the threat, which is being investigated by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

“I’m really very proud of our students because they would not accept any cruelty or anything that’s wrong,” Viota said.

“Not only did they come to us, the administrators ... but they also confronted the culprit.”

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office was notified of the threat, which was made on the social media application Snapchat, and opened an investigation, spokesman Dave Bristow said Tuesday. They have identified a suspect.

Even with the investigation underway, Viota noted his team is on alert and prepared.

“We’ve been handling this all morning,” Viota said. “We don’t like students feeling unsafe.”

He does not believe any students are in danger and that the situation was “very well contained.”

The threat was made on Snapchat, but Bristow declined to comment on the specifics of the threat.

“As we continue to talk about it, it gets perpetuating, but we want to make it clear that we are going to investigate these and if we can prove a criminal case we’re going to charge,” Bristow said.

Viota added that the school planned to hold an assembly Tuesday afternoon with students to address the consequences of “doing something foolish on social media.” Parents of students at Team Success can also expect a call from the school around 6 p.m. addressing the incident, as well as a letter.

Bristow said that children should understand the threats are not funny; the sheriff’s office takes them seriously and it could result in a criminal record for those responsible.

“It’s on us to respond and that’s what we did,” Viota said. “But we have to offer to our student body that they’re safe, they’re here to learn.”

It’s not the first school threat local law enforcement has had to address. Monday, the sheriff’s office investigated a threat to Braden River Middle School, which was also made over social media. Bristow said Tuesday they have identified a suspect in this case as well, but no arrests have been made.

Friday, Bradenton Police Department officials investigated a threatening note found Thursday morning at Manatee High School.

The threats are just a few reported around the state following a mass shooting in Parkland on Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17 people and injured several more. Nikolas Cruz, 19, was arrested in connection with the shooting.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 12:51 PM with the headline "When someone threatened their school on social media, these students took action."