Sanford student accused of threatening mass shooting at school

Classmates found threats on laptops at Crooms Academy

SANFORD, Fla. – A 15-year-old student at Crooms Academy in Sanford was arrested on suspicion of writing threats on his laptop at school.

Investigators said two classmates saw the messages Tuesday on the teen’s laptop, and one of them immediately told the school resource officer.

According to an arrest report, the boy detailed how he wanted to start shooting on the bottom floor of the building and work his way up. One of the messages allegedly said, “There is about no valuable life anywhere found in this place.”

The arrest report also stated that he wanted the school “shot up” because students laughed at him when his cellphone went off in class.

Police said the teen told officers that he “hated the school and hated the country” while he was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center.

Crooks Academy released a statement about the arrest:

"This afternoon, we were informed that a student was arrested for making a threat to our campus. Our law enforcement partners at the Sanford Police Department immediately investigated and addressed the situation. At no time was there any concern for the safety and security of our faculty, staff and/or students. Our Crooms Academy Campus is completely safe for learning.

"Please be assured that school district discipline will be fully applied as outlined in our Student Code of Conduct to the student involved, in addition to any criminal charges that may be levied. We wish to make it crystal clear that threats of any kind are no laughing matter and will not be tolerated.

"As always, please remember our motto of ‘See Something, Say Something, Do Something!’”

The teen is faces charges of making threats to kill, do bodily harm or conduct a mass shooting.


About the Author

Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!

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