8th grader arrested for threatening to shoot up a SWFL school

An 8th grade student from Southwest Florida was arrested for threatening to shoot up his entire school and claiming he wanted to kill “everyone.”

Deputies say he professed admiration for the Columbine killers.

The incident started inside the halls of Gateway Intermediate School when they found that student’s notebook with violent messages inside.

The sheriff’s office did not find an immediate threat, but they walked us through what happened in the following days that eventually led to his arrest.

The student started saying in class they were tracking a specific teacher, bragging they even knew their home address and the kind of car they drove.

Several classmates told law enforcement the student talked about plans to shoot up their school, as well as claiming to have a shotgun and an “anarchist cookbook” for bomb assembly.

Law enforcement eventually found something he wrote that talked about how he hated the school and said things like “everybody here needs to die” and “I will release my wrath on this school soon.”

Sheriff Carmine Marceno had this to say about his staff making this arrest:

“I’m so proud of the investigative work done by our Youth Services Unit and appreciative of the ongoing, daily supervision of this student. I made a commitment to do everything possible to ensure student and school safety and this incredible team helped keep that promise. As always, I am extremely grateful for the close working relationship that we maintain with our school district and with each school’s administration. This great investigative work prevented a very serious situation.”

The student was subsequently Baker Acted and, upon his release, with specific threats and evidence in the possession of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the student was taken into custody and charged with two felonies; Send Written Threat to Conduct Mass Shooting and False Report – Use a Firearm in a Violent Manner.