Florida teen arrested for threatening school shooting in group chat, deputies say

A Florida middle school student was arrested after allegedly sending messages to a group chat threatening to carry out a school shooting.

The 13-year-old Carwise Middle School student was arrested on Saturday, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies said the teenage boy sent messages in a group chat on Snapchat to another student about carrying out a shooting at the school, Fox 13 reported.

The suspect threatened to shoot the other student first if he told anyone about his messages. That student later told his parents about what happened, and his parents alerted law enforcement. When deputies arrived at the suspect's home, the 13-year-old admitted that he sent the messages, but he claimed he was only joking when he sent them, according to deputies.