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Boy, 13, arrested for threatening Palatka Junior-Senior High School classmates

Palatka High School

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Another teen has been arrested for threatening two other teens in Putnam County.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said a 13-year-old boy wrote to two girls who also attend Palatka Junior-Senior High School, threatening to kill them.

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The boy sent the girls photos of two guns, asking them which one he should use in the shooting.

The girls contacted a school administrator, who contacted PCSO.

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“I made it abundantly clear that if a student, or any person, makes a threat at one of our schools, we will take action to arrest and let the community know who is threatening our students, staff and schools,” Putnam Sheriff H.D. ‘Gator’ DeLoach said in a news release. “Thirteen is plenty old enough to know right from wrong and I don’t want to hear excuses about age. He knew he was threatening other students and he continued to do so. I cannot say it loud enough – stop the nonsense, stop making threats and stop sharing social media posts to cause disruption and chaos. I will post your photo, I will let the community know. Parents, you’re also on notice to do your job. You are parents, not friends. Take away the phones and the electronics. You’re the sheriff in your house and if you don’t hold you’re child accountable, I will when they continue with these stupid games. I am done playing.”

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Investigators determined that the photos of the guns were saved on the boy’s phone. The weapons belonged to a family member and he did not have access to them at the time of the threat, PCSO said.

PCSO said since the beginning of the school year, it has seen a "barrage of fake threats” in the county’s schools.

The 13-year-old boy is now in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

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