A 15-year-old high school student was arrested by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office after she was accused of threatening to conduct a school shooting in messages that were posted on Instagram.
In the evening hours on Friday, March 17, the ACSO Combined Communications Center began receiving reports of an Instagram account that had posted about Buchholz High School, which is located at 5510 NW 27th Avenue in Gainesville.
In the social media post, the account holder threatened to “shoot the school up.” The account holder also stated “don’t come to school Monday if you aint tryna die,” according to a media release from the sheriff’s office.
ACSO stated that numerous residents contacted law enforcement and were concerned about the safety of their children. Several of those residents stated that they were too scared to send their child to school.
An investigation was quickly launched by ACSO and detectives learned that the Instagram account had been created earlier in the day. After obtaining an exigent request from Meta Platform, Inc., detectives obtained information that led them to the home of 15-year-old Sta’Nicia Brown, according to ACSO.
At Brown’s residence, detectives learned that she had been home all day with her cellphone. The sheriff’s office stated that Brown denied any involvement with the Instagram account or the threatening social media post.
During a search of Brown’s cellphone, detectives discovered the Instagram account that had been used to create the threatening messages. When asked about the incident, Brown continued to deny any involvement.
Brown was arrested by detectives, and she is being charged with making a written or electronic threat of a mass shooting, false report of use of a firearm in a violent manner, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office stated in the media release that Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr. remains committed to the safety and security of the community’s youth. “The Sheriff applauds the many citizens who contacted law enforcement, as well as the Deputies and Detectives who worked diligently to ensure Brown was located and arrested.”