FORT PIERCE, Fla. — An 11-year-old accused of threatening to shoot and kill a classmate in a group text chat is facing charges.
Port St. Lucie police told WPTV that the boy allegedly sent a picture of his father’s hunting rifle to a 10-year-old girl.
Authorities said the boy sent the picture in a group chat with three other classmates.
“He got frustrated with that, and at one point, started using vulgar language, racial language,” said Sgt. Dominick Mesiti.
Mesiti said one of the girls responded, telling the boy to stop.
That is when, according to Mesiti, the 11-year-old to threaten to shoot and kill her—and sent a picture of the rifle.
“It's very difficult for us to walk away from when it's written there in black and white,” said Mesiti.
Authorities said that even at a young age, these threats are taken seriously.
“Even if they believe they're kidding or believe they're making a joke, or they don't intend to carry out that threat, there will be consequences for those threats,” said Mesiti.
Mesiti added that parents also have a responsibility to check what their children on doing on their phones.
“They need to frequently go through their children's phones to know what kind of conversations they're having, who, who they're speaking to, and how they're speaking to them,” said Mesiti.
The 11-year-old was arrested for second degree felony of written or electronic threats to do bodily harm or kill.
He has since been released and is now under court ordered home detention.
According to police, the text messages were sent after school hours.
WPTV spoke with an administrator at Synergy Magnet K-12 who said the 11-year-old student has been expelled.
