FORT MYERS, Fla — A 16-year-old student who was arrested Wednesday night and charged with threatening violence at two Cape Coral high schools was in a Lee County courtroom early Thursday morning.
A judge ordered that the teenager stay in juvenile detention for the next 21 days, until his next court appearance. The judge asked our crew in court not to take video of the suspect's face because of his age.
According to Cape Coral Police, the teen goes to North Fort Myers High School.
Police say Wednesday night, he used Snapchat to threaten school shootings at Mariner and Cape Coral High Schools.
Detectives say he told them the threats were a prank.
The Cape Coral High School Principal sent a note to families after police made the arrest. Ryan Jackson thanked "everyone who reported it and the quick work of detectives to keep our school safe."
Fox 4 got the screenshot of the threats from a parent on Wednesday night. It says "shooting up mariner high and cape high tmr mark my words."
Another screenshot said "im murdering people in cape coral florida tonight."
Fox 4 called Cape Coral Police to report the threat and dispatchers told us they received several reports about the screenshots.
The principal of Mariner High School sent an e-mail to parents late Wednesday night, addressing the threats.
"This email/phone call is to inform you we are aware about a social media post threatening our school," Principal Dr. Thomas Michel said in the statement.
The teen is charged with one felony count of Written or Electronic Threats to Conduct a Mass Shooting.
This is a developing story. As soon as we have new information we will report the updates.
