Florida Teen: 'I Want To Be A Professional School Shooter'

CORAL SPRINGS, FL — A 17-year-old Florida teenager, whose school is little more than five miles away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, allegedly declared his desire to become a "professional school shooter" on social media. Police said that a tipster from California saw the post and contacted Florida police earlier this week. The teen is now facing a felony charge.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Anthony Borges, who suffered five bullet wounds while trying to shield fellow students in the Stoneman Douglas attack, appeared at a press conference on Friday night with his family and attorney. The family plans to file a lawsuit against the Broward school system, sheriff's office "and others" for negligence.

"I know I've been called iron man. And while I'm honored to be called this, I am not," Borges said in a statement read by his attorney, Alex Arreaza of Fort Lauderdale. "I am a 15-year-0ld that was shot five times while Broward Sheriff's deputies waited outside and decided that they weren't going to come into the building.

"I understand that it's been said that they understand why the deputies didn't go inside," he continued. "I will tell you 'I don't understand.' The deputies were there to protect us and they didn't."

The charges against a fellow Broward teen came less than two weeks after thousands of Parkland and Coral Springs residents took to the streets to support safer schools in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas tragedy. They were joined by hundreds of thousands of sympathetic marchers around the United States.

Patch is withholding the name of the teen who allegedly posted the online threat because of his age. But police said that the threat was directed at J.P. Taravella High School, which is one town over from Parkland in neighboring Coral Springs. The teenager was charged with making written threats, a second-degree felony under Florida law that was recently expanded in response to the Parkland shootings.

Coral Springs police, who were among the first officers on the horrific scene following the Stoneman Douglas shooting, said on Friday that they received the tip on Tuesday from someone who spotted the YouTube post under the username: "Sharp Shooter."

The post declared: “… I want to be a professional school shooter… (no sarcasm, Broward county, Florida) J.P. Taravella HS is my target, tomorrow. I’M LEGIT NOT JOKING AROUND! SPREAD MY MESSAGE!!!!”

The FBI acknowledged that it failed to act on a specific tip concerning accused Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz, who is charged with killing 17 students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during a murderous Valentine's Day rampage.

Stoneman Douglas students resumed classes on Monday amid heightened security measures after being off last week for spring break. Students are now only permitted to carry their books and personal items in clear backpacks. They will also have to wear identification badges at all times while the Florida governor directed at least eight Florida Highway Patrol officers to take up positions around the campus in addition to other security measures that were in place.

Even so, the Broward County Sheriff's Office confirmed that they received a threat on Monday concerning Stoneman Douglas and deployed the bomb squad to the sprawling campus. No explosives were found.

Court documents said that the online threat posted on YouTube was edited by the user, according to court documents made public on Friday.

The threat initially stated: "For whoever is reading this, I will be shooting up my high school in Broward County, Fla. tomorrow afternoon at 12 when school starts. Round 2. J.P. Taravella HS: (I am legit. Make my presence known)."

In a strange twist, YouTube itself came under attack on Tuesday by Nasim Aghdam, the woman who allegedly shot several employees before turning the gun on herself.

Coral Springs police said that they found multiple firearms in the home of the teenager when they went to arrest him.

They described his demeanor as "not fazed" and that of his parents as "shocked" when they visited the home.

"Upon advising the defendant of the nature of this investigation, the defendant uttered that he was just joking and would not carry out his threat," according to court documents. "There were firearms within the home and located, and in their secured location by the defendant's father."

Police said that the teen admitted to posting the threats on YouTube.

Borges, who appeared in a wheelchair during Friday's evening press conference, said through his attorney that he is too frightened to return to Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

"As of right now, I would like to go back to school but I'm afraid this sort of thing can happen again," he said through his attorney. "I would like you, the press, to help me spread our message of safe schools. I'm not iron man. I'm just a kid that wants to go back to school without worrying about getting shot."

Thousands of Parkland and Coral Springs residents took to the streets to support safer schools in the wake of the Stoneman Douglas tragedy. Photo by Paul Scicchitano.