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Three students arrested for posting video threats
Josh Cascio reports
PARRISH, Fla. - Four students in Manatee County have been arrested in the last two days in connection to school threats, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
Two of the students, who go to Parrish Community High School, were arrested after posting videos on social media depicting a simulated mass shooting, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.
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Previous: Officials with Manatee schools provide update on bomb threat that led to Parrish High evacuation
Officials with Manatee County Schools as well as the Manatee County sheriff provided update after Parrish Community High School was evacuated due to a bomb threat. Law enforcement officials said they spent more than three hours clearing the campus. This is the fourth threat reported since February 1, according to school officials.
Investigators said Manatee County Crime Stoppers received a tip about one of the videos, which was posted on TikTok and was meant to depict a mass shooting. The video was apparently filmed during a bomb threat evacuation at Parrish High Tuesday, Feb. 7. The student was identified by a school resource deputy and arrested at their home.
That student is said to have admitted to making the video. They were taken to a juvenile detention facility and charged with making written or electronic threats to kill, do bodily injury, or conduct a mass shooting – which is a felony.
Another video was brought to the attention of a school resource officer at Parrish High Thursday. The student was identified by the SRO and arrested at school the same day.
Deputies said the second student arrested from Parrish High also admitted to posting threatening videos online.
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Tensions high after lock-downs at Parrish High School
The fourth unfounded bomb threat prompted a response from officials in Manatee County, who are fed up with unnecessary panic in school.
PREVIOUS: Parrish Community High evacuated after multiple bomb threats; investigators work to track source
The third student who goes to Buffalo Creek Middle School was arrested Wednesday in connection with school threats, the sheriff's office said.
Deputies also said they arrested a fourth student, who goes to Parrish Community High, for making a false Fortified Florida tip on February 6 about a shooting at the school. The fourth student confessed to detectives about making the false report, "as a joke," the sheriff's office said.
The fourth student was arrested on charges of disrupting an educational institution, which is a second degree misdemeanor.
High school staff and administration have been shuffling students from classrooms to outdoor fields and facilities after threats forced evacuations on multiple days.
Students and staff at Parrish Community High School were evacuated from the building Tuesday morning after officials received two bomb threats.
Since February 1, school officials say they've received four bomb threats against the school that have not been credible.
"The school administration as well as the partnership with the local sheriff's department have taken those threats very seriously," Manatee County schools Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said. "It is unfortunate that these threats continue and that they disrupt education for so many."
Deputies are still investigating and said additional arrests are possible.