Canaveral Groves teen charged after reposted Snapchat threat against Brevard school

Update: A Judge dismissed charges against the teenager due to lack of probably cause Friday.

[Charges dismissed after Snapchat threat made against Space Coast Jr./Sr. High]

Original story:

Brevard deputies arrested a 15-year-old Canaveral Groves girl for posting an unfounded threat against Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School Thursday, according to Brevard County Sheriff's Office.



The arrest came Friday morning after Sheriff Wayne Ivey took to Facebook late Thursday to calm fears and reassure the public that "there is nothing to indicate this is valid threat to any of our schools."

Brevard County Schools sent a text message at 11 a.m. Friday to help dispel the rumors: "The Brevard Sheriff's Office has arrested a Space Coast Jr./Sr. High student who posted a hoax threat to schools on social media, causing rumors at several Brevard schools. Law enforcement has found no credible threats to Brevard schools or students at this time."

Thursday evening, Brevard County Sheriff's Office was alerted to a possible copycat threat posted to Snapchat. The picture reportedly showed a juvenile holding a gun with a threat to Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School.

The photo was captioned with "I'm coming space coast watch out" punctuated by a smiley face emoji and was reposted to an Instagram account with the username "brevardshooter."

Deputies determined the Snapchat post was a variation on a previous social media threat made by a student in South Carolina, who was arrested earlier Thursday. The threat was reposted locally by the student and tagged with a reference to the Port St. John school, Ivey said in the statement.

The unidentified teenager was arrested and charged with issuing a written threat to kill or do bodily harm. She is a student at Space Coast Jr./Sr. High School. Deputies said the teen thought the post was "funny."

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"In an abundance of caution and to reassure our parents and students, our agency has directed an increased presence of deputies at Space Coast Jr/Sr High School where the reposted threat was alleged to occur," Ivey said in a Facebook post Thursday.

"I want to reassure everyone that our agency is fully vetting this 'reposted' threat and that our schools are in no way believed to be in harm's way."

There have been a spate of copycat threats around the nation in the aftermath of the school shooting that took the lives of 17 students and teachers.

The South Carolina teen arrested earlier Thursday posted to Snapchat a picture of himself posing with a rifle, with a caption reading "Round 2 of Florida tomorrow." A photo of the screenshot was reposted throughout Central Florida, eventually making its way to the Space and Treasure coasts.

Law enforcement in St. Lucie and Martin counties received multiple calls from concerned parents over the post. The St. Lucie County School District, along with the sheriff's offices in St. Lucie and Martin counties, deemed the threat not credible.

Other similar threats surfaced in Manatee and Putnam counties in Florida.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey's full statement:

"THIS SNAPCHAT POST IS BEING INVESTIGATED BY OUR AGENCY AND IS NOT DEEMED A CREDIBLE THREAT AT THIS TIME!!"

The attached snapchat post has been shared throughout the country, which resulted in the arrest of a South Carolina teen earlier today.

The ninth-grader wrote the menacing caption over a photo of someone wearing a partial mask and holding what appeared to be a similar weapon to the Active Shooter in South Florida.

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Authorities were alerted to the disturbing threat when a classmate recognized the suspect in the Snapchat post and told a parent. Law enforcement subsequently located the mask and rifle, which turned out to be a pellet gun. The teen, whose name is being withheld, allegedly said he was joking in the post, which has been reported by numerous media organizations.

Subsequent investigation by our agency and other Law Enforcement agencies revealed that someone had taken the original threat and reposted it locally, identifying a specific Brevard County School. Unfortunately, the post has now been reposted and shared countywide causing parents to be concerned about the validity of the post and threat.

Please know that our agency and the FBI are continuing to investigate the “reposted” threat, however there is nothing to indicate that there is a valid threat to any of our schools. In an abundance of caution and to reassure our parents and students our agency has directed an increased presence of Deputies at SpaceCoast Jr/Sr High School where the reposted threat was alleged to occur.

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I want to reassure everyone that our agency is fully vetting this “reposted” threat and that our schools are in no way believed to be in harm’s way as a result of this isolated incident that originated in South Carolina.

I also want to personally thank everyone who has contacted our agency concerning this post!! We always tell our citizens “if they see something they should say something” and the contact we have had from our citizens regarding this post demonstrate that our message is being taken seriously!! This issue is a great example of what happens when Law Enforcement and citizens partner together to protect a community!!"

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

On Friday morning, Ivey again released a statement about the arrest.

His message on the Sheriff's Office Facebook page:

"BREVARD COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE PROVIDES INVESTIGATIVE UPDATE RELATING TO INSTAGRAM SCHOOL THREAT

Throughout the night our agents worked to identify the poster who had “reposted” a picture and the written threat of, “I’m coming space coast, watch out.” While the initial post and threat was initiated in South Carolina yesterday by a South Carolina teen who was subsequently arrested, the post was reposted last night by a teen in the Canaveral Groves area relating to Space Coast Jr/Sr High School.

As a result of the repost our agency initiated a local investigation that identified a 15 year old female student at Space Coast Jr/Sr High School as the person who posted the second threat. The student was arrested early this morning by members of our team and charged with Written Threats to Kill or do Bodily Harm. The female student was transported to the Juvenile Detention Center where she is currently being held as a result of the charges.

The investigation into the post began after the Sheriff’s Office was made aware of the posting on Instagram. Sheriff’s Office Agent Chris Castiello who is assigned to the FBI Task Force began the task of tracking down the origin of the communication and was able to identify and locate the juvenile suspect early this morning. The female student had indicated that she thought it was “funny,” because everyone else was doing it and the reaction it was generating.

I want to again thank our many citizens who alerted our agency to the posting as we greatly appreciate the partnership we have in working together to protect Brevard County!!"

Sheriff Wayne Ivey

Dan Rorabaugh of TCPalm and FLORIDA TODAY reporters Tyler Vazquez, Jennifer Sangalang and Tess Sheets contributed to this story.

Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717

or esrogers@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @EricRogersFT