A 12-year-old Florida girl was arrested after she posted online a “detailed manifesto” about carrying out a mass shooting at a middle school due to bullying, authorities said.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said it got word overnight Monday about the manifesto “describing at length a plan to carry out a mass shooting at Southwestern Middle School due to bullying. Deputies acted quickly to investigate the threat and identify the student responsible.”
When detectives spoke with the suspect, she first denied any involvement but later admitted to making the plan and posting it online, the station said.
The school is in DeLand, which is about 45 minutes north of Orlando.
The student was “placed under arrest for making written threats to kill and misuse of a 2-way communications device,” the sheriff’s office added.
Blaze News is not naming or showing the face of the suspect due to her age.
RELATED: 2 Florida 15-year-olds accused of threatening to shoot up high schools
Image source: Volusia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office
According to WOFL-TV, a friend gave the tipster the information about the manifesto, and the tipster wanted to report the information.
The station said the mass shooting plan was posted to a website — but while the plan had been taken down, the comments and username remained, the station said.
Investigators traced the IP address to DeLand and identified the suspect — a student at Southwestern Middle School, WOFL said.
Citing the arrest affidavit, the station noted that the mass shooting plan detailed when to arrive at school, where to meet up, what time to start the shooting — and even identified a teacher who “gave me an F- on my test” and named students.
WOFL said that when investigators spoke with the teacher in question, she looked at her grades to see which students had received an F, and investigators verified that the suspect was one of those students.
The station, citing the affidavit, said investigators also asked the student named in the plan if there were any students who made fun of him or didn’t like him — and he recalled the suspect, who was in his math class.
Investigators also spoke with the boy whom the suspect said would help her with her plan, WOFL said, and the boy later admitted his friend — the suspect — was the one who made the plan to shoot up the school.
When detectives spoke with the suspect, she first denied any involvement but later admitted to making the plan and posting it online, the station said.
Deputies arrested the suspect around 1:30 a.m. Monday, WOFL reported, adding that she soon was taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center.
Blaze News over the last several months has reported about Florida authorities accusing teens — and those even younger — of making similar threats and arresting them. What’s more, law enforcement agencies frequently have released the names and images of the young suspects, a decision that hasn’t made every observer happy.
- Earlier this month, a pair of 15-year-olds were arrested after being accused of threatening to shoot up high schools, police said.
- In late October, an 11-year-old girl was arrested after writing a “kill list” at her desk at school, police said. Then just two weeks later, an 11-year-old boy from the same school district was arrested after allegedly creating a “kill list” at school, police said.
- Also in October, a Florida sheriff’s office came under fire for posting 9-year-old male’s mug shot on Facebook after his felony arrest for allegedly bringing a knife into his elementary school.
- Just a week prior, that same sheriff’s office said a 10-year-old was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, a third-degree felony, after bringing a pocketknife to school and threatening another student. The sheriff’s office posted the suspect’s name and mug shot.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
