PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A 12-year-old girl is facing serious charges after she posted threatening messages on Snapchat, authorities said.
Pembroke Pines police spokeswoman Amanda Conwell said in a news release that the police department was contacted Monday by an anonymous complainant who informed authorities about the threatening posts made by a student at Pembroke Pines Charter Central.
Conwell said the girl was immediately taken into custody by school resource Officer William Pleasants and the girl's mother was notified and went to the school.
According to police, one of the posts read, "If I get this one more time I will shoot someone." Another post allegedly read, "No one go to school tmrrw."
"It's scary. I don't know what this word is coming to. It's really scary," one parent, Yanet Diaz, said.
Conwell said the girl admitted posting the messages and said she did so because she was being bullied in school.
The girl acknowledged that the posts appeared threatening, but said she had no plans to carry out the threats, authorities said.
"It's horrible because you never know what's going to happen," Adriana Barbee, whose child attends the school, said. "You never know if they're going to be safe, if the threats are true or, you know, it's someone screaming out for attention."
Conwell said the girl told police she did not have access to any guns and no weapons were found on her.
Regardless, the student faces charges of making a false report concerning the use of a firearm in a violent manner. She was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center.
"We are once again asking our local parents to please speak with your children about making threats of this nature," Conwell said in the news release. "All threats made against our schools will be taken seriously, and will be swiftly investigated by our department. These are severe offenses, and any individual determined to have committed such acts will be charged accordingly. Please educate your children on the seriousness of these crimes, and help us prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future."