Crime & Safety
Pasco School Shooting Threat Made In Letter To Santa: Sheriff
A Wiregrass Ranch High School student was arrested after deputies said he threatened to shoot up his school in a letter to Santa.
WESLEY CHAPEL, FL -- Pasco County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a 15-year-old Wiregrass Ranch High School student after they said the teen threatened to shoot up his school in a letter to Santa found in the Macy's Santa letter box.
Patch isn't disclosing the teen's name due to his age.
The ninth-grader was arrested Monday after fingerprint analysis tied him to a letter found in the letters to Santa mailbox at the Macy's in the Shops of Wiregrass, 28233 Paseo Drive, Wesley Chapel.
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The letter read in part: "I have been planning this for im, I am shooting up Wiregrass Ranch High School..."
The letter contained the signature of another student who detectives determined was not involved in writing it.
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Detectives used latent fingerprints found on the letter to trace the letter to the 15-year-old. When questioned, the teen denied writing the letter and said he was never in the department store.
He was charged with making a written threat to kill or do bodily harm and transported to the Pasco County Juvenile Assessment Center.
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