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 hold out a mass shooting, authorities stated.

In a statement Saturday, the Lee County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned it had discovered earlier that day of a "threatening textual content message" despatched by a pupil at an elementary school.

It stated its local college threat enforcement workforce was instantly notified and started investigating. The ten-year-old boy was interviewed and charged later with "making a written menace to conduct a mass shooting," the sheriff's workplace mentioned.

In video shared by authorities, the boy might be seen being led right into a police vehicle.

“This pupil’s habits is sickening, particularly after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno mentioned in a statement, noting that the risk got here simply days after the deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary Faculty left 19 students and two lecturers useless.

“Proper now shouldn't be the time to behave like a little bit delinquent. It’s not humorous,” he mentioned. “This youngster made a pretend menace, and now he’s experiencing actual penalties.”

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

The comment got here as authorities in Uvalde face mounting criticism over their response to the Could 24 faculty shooting after it came to gentle that they waited roughly an hour for backup instead of immediately moving in on the gunman.

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