Two Buchholz High School sophomores were arrested after deputies say they sent death threats and images of guns to other students.
The two 15-year-old boys were taken to a juvenile detention center within hours of each other Monday morning, said Art Forgey, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. They’re in the juvenile detention center on charges of intimidation by a written threat to commit bodily injury and communication to commit a felony.
The whole ordeal seemed “intricate and detailed,” Forgey said. The students discussed finding the best place to cause the most deaths and placing explosives to distract authorities.
Texts from the two students included, “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” “America must be cleansed,” and “Each and every one of you are little sh*ts who need to die.”
Deputies learned about the messages Sunday night when a parent said their child was sent messages in a group chat, Forgey told The Alligator.
After looking into the matter, deputies arrested the first student just after midnight Monday and the second one later that morning.
“They may have thought this was funny or a joke, but obviously it’s not funny or a joke,” Forgey said. “Any threat of violence is taken very seriously.”
A shooting threat against Eastside High School was investigated in May, and two minors, an 11-year-old and a 15-year-old, were arrested in September for making a fake post threatening to shoot up Westwood Middle School on Instagram.
No weapons have been found during the investigation as of Monday evening, Forgey said. Buchholz remained open throughout the day, but Forgey is unsure where the second student was arrested.
Buchholz High School could not be reached for immediate comment.
