Broward County

Teen girl arrested over social media threats against Broward County schools

Investigators said the high school student confessed to making the threats when confronted, but claimed it was all a joke.

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A 14-year-old girl was arrested in connection with social media posts that contained threats against some schools across Broward County, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Investigators said the threats were made on Instagram stories over the weekend. One post included a list of targeted schools while other posts contained threats of a school shooting or other violence, according to a BSO news release on Sunday.

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On Saturday evening, detectives were able to trace the threats back to a 14-year-old girl in Lauderdale Lakes, who later confessed to making the threats when confronted, but claimed it was all a joke, authorities said.

BSO said the schools mentioned in the post were located in different cities, but did not specify which ones.

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Broward County Public Schools posted to X on Saturday afternoon that it was aware of a threatening post circulating on social media. They released a statement on Sunday, announcing that one arrest was made.

Broward Schools also alerted parents of the threat investigation through an email.

Following her arrest, the high school student was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center for processing.

She now faces charges of making written threats to kill/conduct a mass shooting, threat to throw, project, place or discharge any destructive device and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, according to the BSO news release.

Investigators added a reminder to the community, that these threats are always taken seriously and could result in criminal charges.

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