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Across the First Coast, three distinct school safety incidents have prompted investigations.
In JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Authorities are currently probing three separate cases involving young individuals in connection with school safety concerns that emerged in the First Coast area over the past day.
The latest incident unfolded on Friday morning in Duval County, where the Duval County School District reported the arrest of a Mandarin High School student. School police stated that the student had threatened a campus shooting, with the warning being relayed through the Fortify Florida app.
First Coast News Crime and Safety Expert Mark Baughman noted that investigators are set to scrutinize the student’s social media profiles to determine if there have been any prior threats.
“They’ll delve into that, aiming to get to the bottom of how these online threats escalated, particularly with this juvenile,” Baughman remarked.
Then, on Thursday, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office posted a picture of a gun taken from an 11-year-old on a bus. The sheriff’s office said the bus was headed to Mill Creek Academy, and the student was removed immediately upon arrival at school. The sheriff’s office also confirmed the gun was loaded.
Baughman said investigators will now be working to determine how the child got hold of the gun and whether charges could be brought against anyone else.
“Was it a home and not secured, and he pilfered it away and hid it and brought it? Or was it purchased on the street? Was it found? Did another friend from another home take it and give it to him? They’re going to flesh that all the way out,” Baughman explained. “And if there’s somebody culpable in that process that’s an adult, they could potentially be charged.”
In Putnam County on Thursday, a 16-year-old was arrested after authorities said he posted a video to social media about killing his classmates.
First Coast News reached out to the state attorney’s office about whether the teen could be charged as an adult. Baughman said even if the threats were made in a song, they will still be taken seriously.
“We’ve seen it before with particular rappers, for example, Foolio or some other ones who are now deceased, but some other ones. That in some of their lyrics, even though there’s an artist’s expression, it could be viewed as being a threat or something along those lines, inciting someone to do something,” Baughman explained.