Police arrest student accused of making threats

Oklahoma City police have arrested a 13-yearold Western Heights Middle School student accused of threatening violence on social media.

The boy was arrested Thursday and taken to a local juvenile facility, police said on Facebook.

“This morning, our officers were made aware of a post circulating on social media, where a subject was making specific threats of violence that were to take place at a local school,” police said.

The arrest comes less than 24 hours after a deadly school shooting at a high school in Florida left 17 dead. The shooter, a former student who had been expelled, had bragged of becoming a “professional school shooter” on YouTube, according to the Associated Press.

The Western Heights student allegedly posted “Ima shoot up western heights” on social media, according to a Facebook post.

Western Heights Public Schools Superintendent Joe Kitchens said the accused student “is not a currently active student.”

He declined to discuss the student’s status any further, citing student confidentially.

A post on the district’s Facebook page said the student was not in school when the threat was received.

“We have made contact with the police and we have supplied information including photos to all school sites and our security staff,” the post read. “We have heightened security measures today and will be vigilant about the safety of our students and staff.”

Subsequent posts on the district’s Facebook page said the student was not on campus and the school was not on lockdown.

“The police have been at the Middle School today. They have investigated the issue and have taken steps to neutralize the threat.”