A teenage student from New York was arrested for bringing a loaded gun into Queens High School after threatening to shoot up his school.
The 16-year-old boy previously posted messages on social media platforms saying he hated tests. The student, who attends the Benjamin Cardozo High School, has now been charged with criminal possession of a weapon and making a terroristic threat as an adolescent offender.
Teenage Student Arrested After Bringing Loaded Gun To School
The situation comes after law enforcement personnel discovered him toting a semi-automatic handgun inside his backpack. The firearm, identified as a 9-millimeter Taurus GX4, was loaded with 13 rounds and seized nearly two hours after the teenager allegedly posted the threatening messages.
Officials said that the teenager in question also posted on social media that his issues with tests in school were his motivations for his actions. Assistant District Attorney Mirza Hadzic said that the suspect essentially made the post on Instagram because tests got him "tight," according to the New York Post.
Hadzic added that Meta, Instagram's parent company, took the teenager's threat very seriously and informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The company also provided the federal agency with the phone number associated with the suspect's account. She said the FBI then forwarded the information to the New York Police Department (NYPD).
A swift investigation into the case resulted in police officers raiding the teenage boy's bedroom, where they found two more 9-millimeter bullets that were compatible with the weapon he brought to school. It was found that the firearm was legally bought by a licensed firearm holder in South Carolina on Jan. 9, 2025.
Following the 16-year-old's arrest, he was arraigned as a minor in Queens Criminal Court and is now facing up to four years in prison if granted youthful status in court. The situation raised questions about the school's security, CBS News reported.
Addressing the Issue
This resulted in new measures being implemented, including metal detectors where students have to walk through before entering the school. However, some people question whether they should have already been in place before the threat even occurred.
On top of the new security measures, the police commissioner said that additional NYPD officers were assigned to the school. He noted that they would remain stationed there for the foreseeable future, as per NBC New York.
The president of the union that represents school safety officers, Greg Floyd of Local 237, said that the city budget left them short by more than 2,500 officers. He argued that the result of this is that there are not enough personnel to operate more scanners.
