PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A west Boca Raton man is under arrest after Palm Beach County school police said he threatened to shoot six students at Loggers Run Middle School.
Fernando Gaete, 22, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail at 4 a.m. Thursday on a charge of written threats to conduct a mass shooting or terrorism act.
According to Gaete's arrest report, the School District of Palm Beach County Police Department received a call at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday from a woman who flagged two posts made on the social media program Discord just after 6 p.m.
"I Dominic Valentine vow to shoot up Loggers Run middle school on Monday morning gonna shoot 6 students," the post said.
Discord provided law enforcement with an IP address, which identified the program's user as Gaete, a former student of Loggers Run Middle School, which is located just two miles from his home.
Just after 12 a.m. Thursday, two school police detectives responded to Gaete's home in west Boca Raton and questioned him in front of his parents.
According to the arrest report, Gaete said he has a Discord account and "admitted that he posted a threat to shoot up a school (Loggers Run Middle School)" and the post said he "would shoot 6 students."
"When asked why he posted this on Discord, he responded that he was "very angry," the report stated.
Gaete's father told the detectives there were weapons in the home, but "they were in a safe."
In court Thursday, a judge set Gaete's bond at $100,000 and ordered him to have no contact with any Palm Beach County schools or anyone under the age of 18, as well as no internet, social media or texting.
