Post from Instagram of ex-NFL player spurs LA school closure

Author: Associated Press
Published:
FILE – This Aug. 28, 2014, file photo shows San Francisco 49ers’ Jonathan Martin on the bench during an NFL football preseason game against the Houston Texans in Houston. A law enforcement official says ex-football player Martin was taken into Los Angeles police custody after a threatening Instagram post that spoke of bullying. The official says Martin was being questioned and was not under arrest. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

Former Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin, spurred the shutdown of his former Los Angeles-area high school and was questioned by police after a menacing Instagram post appeared on his account.

The post from Martin, who has struggled with mental health issues after a 2013 bullying scandal that shook the NFL, showed a shotgun and referred by name to the private Harvard-Westlake prep school in Los Angeles that he once attended. It also mentioned the Instagram names of two former Dolphins teammates who harassed him, Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. The post said suicide and revenge were the only options for a victim of bullying.

School officials at Harvard-Westlake sent an emergency alert to students and staff early Friday evacuating campus and canceling school.

Los Angeles police would say only that they have an individual who they believe is responsible for the incident. They say he was detained, but is not in LAPD custody.

Several media outlets, however, including the Los Angeles Times and KABC-TV, were told by law enforcement sources that the person questioned was Martin.

Martin left the Miami Dolphins midseason in 2013 after accusing teammates of bullying. An NFL investigation found that Incognito, Pouncey and teammate John Jerry engaged in persistent harassment directed at Martin.

Incognito was suspended for the final eight games and sat out the 2014 season before joining the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL’s investigation also found that teammates threatened to rape Martin’s sister, called him a long list of slurs and bullied him for not being “black enough.” Martin is black and Incognito is white.

Martin, who underwent counseling for emotional issues after the bullying scandal, posted on Facebook in 2015 that difficulties in football led him to attempt suicide multiple times.

Martin, the son of two Harvard graduates, attended Stanford University. After he left the Dolphins, Martin played for the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers. He left the NFL in 2015.

Representatives for the Miami Dolphins and the NFL declined to comment.

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