‘Sad’ student writes bomb threat on wall, Florida cops say

A high school student wrote a threatening message on a bathroom wall at her school “because she was bored,” Florida police said in a statement.

School officials there was a report of threatening graffiti in the girls’ bathroom at Shelly C. Boone High School in Haines, about 40 miles southwest of Orlando, on Oct. 26, according to the Haines Police Department.

Graffiti that reads “I’m going to blow up this school!!!” along with “Date: 5/11/2022” with a small heart drawn underneath it.

School resource officers were investigating the identity of a 13-year-old suspected of writing graffiti, police said in a Facebook post. She told the inquest that she wrote the message “because she was bored”.

The student was arrested and charged with making “written threats to kill, injure or commit terrorism,” a second-degree felony, police said.

“We take every threat to our schools seriously,” Haines City Police Chief Greg Gorek said in a statement. “The safety of our students is of vital importance and we will continue to send a message to everyone that there is no such thing as a harmless prank when it comes to threats to our children.”

The student’s mother gave Haines City police permission to search her home for a weapon, but investigators said none were found.

Polk County Schools Superintendent Frederick Hyde said in a statement that student and staff safety is the district’s top priority.

“We encourage parents to reinforce to their children that they should never make threatening statements,” he said in a statement released by the Haines City Police Department on Facebook. “We have to take any potential threat seriously.”

A spokeswoman for Polk County Schools did not respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.

Shelley S. Boone High School serves students in classrooms 6-8 and with nearly 1,000 students enrolled, according to US News and World Report.