A Lee County high school student faces charges and a student conduct hearing after authorities say he threatened to kill an educator and anyone who told authorities about it via social media.
The student, a 15-year-old Lehigh Acres resident attends Gateway High School. He faces charges of written threat of violence after transmitting a message threatening to kill or do bodily harm to a teacher.
The News-Press does not always name minors facing criminal charges, depending on the severity and the context. This does not meet the criteria.
According to an incident report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office, a school resource officer at Gateway High School received a forwarded email Aug. 6. The school year began Monday.
The email depicted a threat the student posted to Instagram, authorities said. The threat stated that a teacher at the school "will be getting shot on the first day, and none of you will snitch, or the whole school goes down with me."
The post also included the words "KILL ME" written seven times in all-caps in the background. A student reported the post to a school principal at another county institution, the arrest report says.
Judge says no: Two weeks later, judge denies communication privileges for Uber driver accused of assault
According to the sheriff's office, the reporting student told authorities the Instagram post was shared to an Instagram group at least seven students are members of.
When authorities questioned the minors, they said they did not know who owned the Instagram account.
Authorities said the arrested student removed the post before the sheriff's office began probing the incident.
Sheriff's deputies then submitted a preservation request to Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, seeking a copy of the original post.
The request revealed the user was associated with a Verizon Wireless phone number in Lehigh Acres.
Educator said she feared for her life
When authorities spoke with the educator mentioned in the individualized threat, she indicated she "became emotionally distraught and scared for her life," and wished to press charges, according to the arrest report.
The educator told authorities she could not think of anyone who would want to harm her, the affidavit says.
While Rob Spicker, spokesperson for the Lee County School District, said he could not release specific details, citing privacy laws, he indicated the student will be disciplined according to the Student Code of Conduct .
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran , Instagram @tomasfrobeltran and Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews .
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Lee County student posts threat to kill teacher on Instagram; arrested
Most Popular
Comments / 0