A 16-year-old boy was arrested Thursday for allegedly posting online a threat to commit a “massive shooting” at Bellport High School days after a Texas elementary school massacre, Suffolk County authorities said.
The boy, whose name was not released because he is a minor, was charged with a felony count of making a terroristic threat and a misdemeanor count of harassment. Suffolk Judge Karen Kerr placed him on supervised release probation with GPS and a 9 p.m. curfew, restricted him to home and office visits, no social media is allowed, and he
will have to submit to alcohol and drug testing.\
“We take these threats seriously and will devote our resources to ensuring the safety of our children,” said Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney.
Police said the bot posted the threat on his Instagram story on Thursday, prompting multiple people to call 911. Fifth Squad detectives, along with the assistance of Computer Crimes detectives and Fifth Precinct Crime Section officers arrested the teen at his home in Bellport at 7:45 p.m. Prosecutors said the post was on the “Bellport Scholars” Instagram page. He faces up to four years in prison, if convicted. He is being represented by Legal Aid and is due back in court on May 31.
The threat came two days after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — the deadliest elementary school mass shooting since December 2012, when 20 first graders and six educators were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.
As a result, Tierney said he is convening a School Safety Summit here in Suffolk with parents, teachers, school officials, law enforcement and prosecutors “to work on improving our response to school safety threats and keeping our kids safe.”
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