‘I could shoot you with my own gun’: Florida police arrest 11-year-old for threatening a girl

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    PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (WPBF) — An 11-year-old boy is accused of making a “written threat to do bodily harm or to kill” a 10-year-old girl online, according to a Port St. Lucie police public information officer.

Police in Port St. Lucie began investigating the case after the girl’s mother reported that her daughter had received threats in a group chat.

Investigators shared a snapshot of the alleged threat, which included the suspect writing, “I could shoot you with my own gun.” Your neighborhood: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News

Sgt. Dominick Mesiti said the victim’s mother reported the incident Friday.

“Her 10-year-old daughter had received a written threat of bodily harm or death from an 11-year-old student that the child goes to school with in Fort Pierce,” Mesiti said. “This is Synergy School, a K-12 private magnet school, not affiliated with the St. Lucie County School District.”

Mesiti said that as the group chat continued, the suspect expressed frustration over receiving alerts.

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“At one point, he started using vulgar language, racial language, basically trying to describe he was displeased with the continuous text,” Mesiti said. “Our victim stood up for herself and told him to knock it off. Unfortunately, the suspect then decided to make a threat to shoot the victim and then took a photo of his father’s hunting rifle and sent it to her.”

Police conducted an investigation, leading to the suspect’s custody.

The 11-year-old suspect has since been released and is currently under court-ordered home detention.

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