DeBary Teen Arrested For Threatening To 'Shoot Up' University High School

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Orange City, FL - A DeBary teenager was arrested and charged with a felony on Monday morning for verbally threatening to shoot up his school, making him the 28th student arrested by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office for making a school threat since the Parkland shooting.

The incident happened at around 10 AM at University High School, 1000 W. Rhode Island Ave., in Orange City. A school employee was in the school auditorium when she heard the 15-year-old make the threat. An assistant principal then contacted a school resource deputy and told him that a student had made a verbal threat to "shoot up the school."

At first, the student denied making the threat but he eventually admitted to making the comment, saying he was trying "to be funny." The student has been charged with making threats of a school shooting, which is a felony. He was taken to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Sheriff Mike Chitwood and Volusia County School Superintendent continue to stress that there is a zero-tolerance policy in place for anyone who jokes about school shootings or threatens to hurt anyone at school or on social media. Students who make school threats or false reports will be required to pay the cost of the resulting investigation, a fee of at least $1,082.

Photo courtesy Jan H. Anderson and Shutterstock.com.

Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2018.

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