Bay County student, 14, arrested and accused of posting a violent online threat

PANAMA CITY — A local student was arrested Wednesday and accused of posting a violent online threat.

According to a press release from the Bay County Sheriff's Office, a 14-year-old home-schooled student posted a threat on Reddit, a social news and forum site, that threatened violence at Bay High School. It also identified a specific victim.

The post was screenshot and sent to BCSO, which then dispatched deputies to the school. Officers with the Panama City Police Department also responded.

"Every threat of violence at a school is taken seriously," Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford said in the release. "I am so proud of our team, training and technology that we put in place to make sure that our kids are safe in Bay County schools."

BSCO used its Bay Real time Operations Center, also known as BAYROC, to monitor cameras at Bay High. This gave responding law enforcement officials "real-time information."

The release notes local law enforcement officials identified the victim, who did not know the person who made the threat against them.

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"(The student) admitted to posting the threat and then, after regretting his actions, taking the post down," the release reads. "But by then, the post had been screenshot and was later reported. A search of the suspect's home (found) that (they) had no access to firearms and thus no means to carry out the threat against the intended victim."

The student was arrested and charged with written threats to kill. Because of the student's age, the News Herald is not publishing the student's name.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay County student, 14, arrested and accused of posting a violent online threat