Teen Threatened To Shoot Up A Forest Hills School, DA Says

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A teenager stands accused of threatening to shoot up his Forest Hills school in a copycat attack of an elementary school massacre, officials announced.

"I am going to shoot the school. Like in Texas. Be ready," an 18-year-old student scrawled on his desk at Forest Hills High School on May 26, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Queens District Attorney's office.

The teen was arrested and hit with charges of making a terroristic threat, criminal mischief, making graffiti and aggravated harassment, according to the DA's office.

The threat was leveled two days after a gunman opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 students and two teachers.

And it's only the latest in a spate of local school shooting threats that have followed the Texas massacre — including in Forest Hills.

The incident unfolded after a Forest Hills High School teacher saw the horrifying message on the desk and — fearing for his and his students' safety — told a school safety agent, who escalated the situation to administrators, according to the complaint.

"I was playing around and I just wrote it," the student admitted in a meeting with school administrators, the complaint states.

Just one day after the disturbing desk message, another teenage student — this time at the Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Forest Hills — was arrested after threatening to shoot up that school.

The student used school computers to search ways to buy firearms and told some classmates that he "wanted to obtain a firearm and shoot several students at the school," according to The New York Post.

Forest Hills High School reportedly installed metal detectors following the shooting threat, but teachers said that everyone at the school is still on edge.

"Nobody feels safe," the teacher told The Post. "The smallest thing like an announcement over the loud speaker or a phone call to the classroom and you think it’s a lockdown. This is nowhere near normalcy for kids or adults after the two years we just endured."

"We are committed to keeping our students safe and will fully investigate all possible threats of harm," said District Attorney Melinda Katz. "The defendant has been appropriately charged."

Related Article: Teen Arrested In Forest Hills School Shooting Threat: NYPD, Report