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 text message threatening to carry out a mass capturing, authorities mentioned.

In a statement Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office stated it had learned earlier that day of a "threatening text message" despatched by a student at an elementary college.

It stated its native faculty menace enforcement workforce 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 capturing," the sheriff's office mentioned.

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

“This scholar’s behavior is sickening, especially after the latest tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno mentioned in a statement, noting that the threat came simply days after the deadly school taking pictures at Robb Elementary School left 19 students and two academics dead.

“Right now is not the time to behave like slightly delinquent. It’s not humorous,” he mentioned. “This baby made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”

Marceno mentioned his group “didn’t hesitate one second...NOT ONE SECOND,” to investigate the incident.

The comment came as authorities in Uvalde face mounting criticism over their response to the May 24 faculty taking pictures after it got here to mild that they waited roughly an hour for backup as a substitute of immediately moving in on the gunman.

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