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A 10-year-old has been charged in Florida after allegedly threatening to carry out a mass shooting, US police said.
In a statement, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, in Fort Myers, said it had learned on Saturday that a “threatening text message” had been sent by a student at a primary school.
The local threat enforcement team was notified and started investigating.
The sheriff’s office added: “Due to the nature of the incident, the Youth Services Criminal Investigations Division assumed the case.”
A fifth-grade pupil was questioned by officers, arrested and later charged with “making a written threat to conduct a mass shooting”, according to police.
Footage has been released of the boy being led into the back of a car by an officer.
“This student’s behaviour is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement.
“Making sure our children are safe is paramount. We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second… not one second, to investigate this threat.”
He added: “Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny.
“This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences.”
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The arrest came just days after 21 people, including 19 children and two teachers, were killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School, in Uvalde, Texas.
Salvador Ramos, 18, entered the school on 24 May with a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire.
He was shot dead by officers but questions have been raised about the local law enforcement’s response time and on Sunday, the US Justice Department said it would investigate the response.
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