HIALEAH, Fla. – A 15-year-old student who attends iMater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah was arrested Monday on accusations that he threatened to shoot up the school.
According to an arrest report, the school principal notified police Monday that several students had told her the teen told them he was going to conduct a mass shooting at the school on Friday.
Hialeah police went to the student's home and spoke to the teen and his mother about the accusations.
According to the arrest report, the student provided police with a composition book that contained a list of the names of 23 students and four teachers.
The list was titled: "People that are gonna die," authorities said.
"He probably got bullied or not treated well," iMater Academy senior Rafael Gomez said. "I don't know because I can't really know what their mindset was."
Police redacted most of the student's statement to detectives from the arrest report but confirmed that he told them he had a friend who was expelled from his school last year for bringing a gun on campus.
iMater Academy Principal Teresa M. Santalo released a statement Wednesday, saying authorities were notified immediately after the accusations were brought forth.
"Mater administrators take every threat and rumor regarding the safety of our students, faculty and staff very seriously and will follow up on anything that may be of concern," she said. "We are proud of the quick action taken by our administrative team and the Hialeah Police Department."
Some parents of students at the school told Local 10 News reporter Roy Ramos that they had called the school office earlier this week to find out what was going on, but they weren't given much information by the school.
"With the most recent threats and actual massacres that actually have occurred in our schools, the downplaying it and not really giving it the importance that it deserves is concerning," Ivette Hernandez said.
Hernandez said she believes parents should have been notified Monday about the threat when it was first reported to the principal and then to police.
"Today, I even questioned should I allow my kids to go to that school," she said.
The teen who was arrested faces one count of making a written threat to kill or do bodily injury.