Bradenton teen faces charges after YouTube comment on video of Parkland school shooter
A teenager at Braden River High School has been charged with making an online threat after indicating that a shooting would happen at the school, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
At 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, the FBI Tampa Field Office received a report from Google that someone had commented online: “A shooting is coming to the school called Braden River High School.”
The comment was posted under a YouTube video about Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz’s plea hearing last month.
Within 45 minutes, the tip was shared with the sheriff’s office and detectives identified the suspect — a 16-year-old student at the school. The teen had already had multiple encounters with law enforcement “related to violent threats/acts while at school,” the lead detective noted in a probable cause affidavit.
Detectives went to the boy’s home and spoke with his mother, who was very cooperative, sheriff’s office spokesman Randy Warren said. She told detectives that there were no weapons in their home and that her son didn’t have any access to weapons that she was aware of.
Detectives searched the teen’s bedroom, with her permission, and did not find any firearms.
The teenager admitted to posting the comment but claimed he didn’t mean it, the lead detectives stated in the report. “He further advised that he was upset on how people were passing judgment on Nikolas Cruz (Parkland school shooter) therefore he posted the comment online.”
He was arrested and taken to the Manatee Regional Juvenile Detention Center. He is charged with written or electronic threats to conduct a mass shooting, a felony.
Although his identity is public record, the Bradenton Herald is not naming the 16-year-old suspect since he is a minor charged with a non-violent felony.
Braden River High School later sent a message to families Wednesday evening, notifying them of “an alleged threat associated with our school that was posted on social media.”
Such threats are “not uncommon in schools,” the message continued, noting that extra security was added to the campus as a precaution.
“Please take this opportunity to speak to your students about the severe legal and school district consequences of making threats against other students or a school, even if those threats are made in jest,” it concludes. “The consequences can be life altering.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 2:28 PM.
