KEY POINTS

  • The student posted photos of firearms on Instagram
  • She threatened a school shooting at 10 a.m. of the following day
  • She issued the threats under the username "lpms_deathnote"
  • Authorities are still working to determine her motive

A 13-year-old Florida girl has been arrested after making shooting threats against her school on social media.

Her now-deleted threats, which surfaced overnight on Instagram, forced 400 students of Lake Placid Middle School to stay home on Tuesday.

The Highlands County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post that the seventh-grader is facing charges of written/sent threat to kill or injure, disturbance of a school function and using a two-way device to facilitate a felony.

The screenshots shared by the sheriff's office show photos of handguns and rifles with text threatening a school shooting at 10 a.m. of the following day. The student used the username "lpms_deathnote" to post the threat.

"If you want to live tomorrow I recommend not coming to school. We tired [sic] of being bullied and bothered for no reason," the post read.

"Me and 2 of my friends [sic] are coming to kill anyone we see so be ready," another post said. "We are going to start at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning." She also included an image featuring six firearms and the words, "Some more of what we gonna bring [sic]."

See posts, photos and more on Facebook.

According to a report, it remains unclear whether the student planned on carrying out the threat. The detectives are still working to determine her motive and whether anyone else is involved.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Chad Douberley at 863-402-7840 or send an email to detectives@highlandssheriff.org. Anonymous tips can be left via the HCSO smartphone app or with Heartland Crime Stoppers at 1-800-226-TIPS, the Sheriff's Office said.

Last December, a 14-year-old student of Pinellas County High School was arrested after making a school shooting threat. According to the police, the student posted a picture of an AK-47 assault rifle on Instagram and in the caption, he wrote, "Can't wait to use those."

The post was made under the username "ano.nymousshooter," but when the cops got the phone number used to create the account, they were able to track the teen. Upon arrest, the teen confessed that he had only downloaded the image of the rifle from the internet. Police said there was no threat to the school.

Gun
Representational image pixabay