PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A Pembroke Pines middle school student was hospitalized Friday after he threatened to shoot and kill a female classmate and then kill himself, police said.
The incident is latest in a series of threats involving Pembroke Pines area schools. Several students are facing charges of making false reports.
The Somerset Academy North student told three other students Friday afternoon that he wanted to shoot and kill a girl at his school and kill himself, Pembroke Pines police said.
After the three students notified school administrators, officers responded to the school to investigate. They learned the student accused of making the threat was upset over something that was published online.
Officers searched the student's belongings both at school and at home, and reported he was not armed.
Officers made sure the student received treatment services under the Florida Mental Health Act. Prosecutors will likely charge the student with false report concerning the use of a firearm.
Another Somerset Academy student was arrested last week after he threatened to shoot his "enemies" during a class. Jeremy Ossa, 19, faces a charge of making a false report.
On Oct. 4, a 14-year-old Franklin Academy student was accused of posting threatening images on Instagram. A Silver Trail Middle School student, 13, was arrested the same day, accused of saying he wanted to commit a school shooting in front of other students and faculty.
In September, a 13-year-old Pines Middle School student threatened to shoot up the school during a Instagram group chat, police said. The student, who said the statement was a joke, is facing a charge of making a false report.
The city and the police department launched a social media campaign after the spate of arrests, urging students not to make threats even as a joke. The campaign used the hashtag "#ThinkBeforeYouPost."
"Please tell your friends and your children threats against students and schools about guns and violence is serious. It's not a joke," Frank Ortis, the mayor of Pembroke Pines, said in a video for the campaign.
Authorities in South Florida have seen an uptick in threats to schools after a gunman opened fire inside Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. Seventeen people were killed and more than dozen were wounded in the shooting.