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Pinellas County 14-year-old charged with school shooting threat on Instagram

school shooting threat.jpg
Posted at 12:45 PM, Dec 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-12-17 12:45:45-05

A Pinellas County 14-year-old was arrested for making school shooting threats via Instagram, the sheriff's office says.

The threats were posted to Instagram under an anonymous account, PCSO said.

The teen was a student at Hollins High School.

According to investigators, school resource deputies were contacted about Instagram postings that appeared to target Hollins High School.

One post showed an AK-47 assault rifle with the caption "What up Dixie" and the hashtag #bullseye.

The second post was a picture of the front of Hollins High School with the caption "Wouldn't go to school tomorrow."

A third post showed what PCSO calls two AR-15-style rifles with the caption, "Can't wait to use those."

Detectives began to investigate the posts that appeared under the anonymous username @ano.nymousshooter. Working with Instagram,
investigators got the phone number used to create the anonymous account and learned it was linked to a 14-year-old.

Detectives found him at his St. Petersburg home just hours after he posted the threats to Instagram. During an interview with investigators, he admitted to posting the images, which were downloaded from the internet.

Detectives confirmed the teen does not have access to any firearms and they do not believe there is any ongoing threat to the school.

He is charged with Threat of Mass Shooting.

Any person with information on this threat or other threats like it are asked to notify the sheriff's office immediately at (727)582-6200.