Shooting, Bombing Threat At East Lake High School Leads To Arrest

EAST LAKE, FL — A 15-year-old East Lake High School student was arrested Monday after the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said he sent a threatening message to another student regarding a school shooting and detonating a bomb at the high school.

The sheriff's office said deputies arrested the teen around 1:15 p.m. after being alerted by the FortifyFL app and calls to 911 after the student who received the message and posted a screenshot of it on Snapchat to alert other students.

Deputies went to the teen's home where he admitted to sending the message as a joke. Deputies confirmed there are no firearms or explosive devices in the home. Nevertheless, the teen was taken to the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center where he was charged with making written threats to kill or conduct a mass shooting, said the sheriff's office.