12-year-old arrested, accused of causing ‘emotional stress’ after threatening to shoot up school

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — A 12-year-old boy was arrested on Friday and received stalking-related charges, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office says. Action News Jax has chosen not to identify the student due to his age.

According to his arrest report, the middle school student made comments about his “willingness to shoot individuals” at Yulee Middle School. Multiple students told the school resource officer about these comments, the report says.

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One of the students told the officer that the boy joked about shooting up the school on the bus. The report also says that student was punched in the face four times by the 12-year-old.

Another student said the 12-year-old mentioned shooting individuals at the school, including several teachers.

An employee at Yulee Middle School stated in the report that the student asked them, “Have you ever hunted at a school? You know, like Nikolas Cruz?”

Nikolas Cruz pled guilty to 17 counts of first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the 2018 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The report goes on to say that when the boy was asked to remove his hood at school, he responded,” Why do I have to take my damn hood off? It’s not like I’m going to shoot up the f****** school.”

Additionally, in the report, a classmate told the resource officer that the 12-year-old’s grandfather had a gun that he would use when he yelled, “I have a gun!” as they were walking home.

The boy’s various comments made others emotionally stressed, worried and concerned for their safety, the report states. One student was kept home from school in fear of what the 12-year-old would do.

In response, deputies arrived at the student’s home and received consent to search his bedroom. They found no weapons but they did find neo-Nazi-related images, pictures involving guns, and images containing racial slurs on his computer.

The 12-year-old middle school student was then arrested for stalking individuals under the age of 16.

He was previously arrested for battery and for spray-painting a sidewalk with racial slurs.

NCSO says the school board will have a hearing about pending expulsion.

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