Felony Charges Filed After Teen Threatened School Shooting In YouTube Comment: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — A Bradenton teenager faces felony charges after posting a social media comment that said a shooting was planned at Braden River High School, according to an arrest report from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

On Nov. 9, the FBI National Threat Operations Center received a tip from Google that the 16-year-old, who attends Braden River High, made a threat against the school. Patch is withholding the student’s name because he’s a minor.

The teen commented on a YouTube video, “A shooting is coming to the school called Braden River High School.”

According to the Bradenton Herald, the student posted the comment on a video about last month’s plea hearing for Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 students and staff members in a 2018 shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

Detectives learned that the teen has had multiple encounters with law enforcement related to violent threats and incidents at school, according to the arrest report.

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Deputy Keith Bush went to the student’s home, where he spoke with both the teen and his mother, Nov. 9.

The 16-year-old admitted to posting the comment online but said that he didn’t mean it. The student said that “he was upset (about) how people were passing judgment on Nikolas Cruz,” the sheriff’s office said.

His mother told detectives that there were no guns in their home and that her son had no access to firearms that she was aware of. She allowed deputies to search her son’s room and no weapons were found.

The teen was brought to Manatee County Regional Juvenile Center. He was charged with sending a written threat to conduct a mass shooting