An Alabama high school student has been arrested after allegedly sending a school shooting threat through a smart phone app, in order to get extra time to study for a test, authorities said on Friday.
Emily Nicole Wilson, 18, is accused of threatening her high school by sending an emoji of a toy gun, along with a date and time, through a messaging application called ‘TextNow,’ WBRC reported.
She was arrested on Thursday and has been charged with ‘making a terroristic threat.’
The charge is a Class C Felony in the state of Alabama, which carries with it a minimum sentence of one year and one day, but not more than two years, in prison.
If convicted, Wilson may also be charged up to $15,000 in fines.
Emily Nicole Wilson, 18, was arrested on Thursday in Alabama after allegedly sending a school shooting threat through a smart phone app, in order to ‘buy time’ to study for a test
This stunt comes after a 19-year-old who legally obtained an AR-15 rifle admitted to using it to shoot and kill 17 people and injure 15 others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.
‘This is a very serious situation,’ Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said on Friday.
Authorities said the teen thought sending the message would result in a school closing, which would ‘buy time’ to study for a test.
‘When we make the decision to do something to give us time to take a text, well guess what, the end result is you get arrested and you go to jail for making a terroristic threat,’ Gentry said.
Wilson, who is a senior at Vinemont High School, allegedly sent the message to her school on Wednesday.
Emily Nicole Wilson, 18, is accused of threatening her high school by sending an emoji of a toy gun, along with a date and time, through a messaging application called ‘TextNow;’ The message that was received is seen here, at right
The Superintendent of Cullman County Schools, Shane Barnette, said on Friday that he had not yet spoken with Wilson or her family.
‘It comes down to a poor decision made by a teenager that it was going to be a short-term, get out of class thing,’ Barnette said.
No official determination has been made on whether, and if so, what, consequences Wilson may face from the school.
Another student was also arrested on Thursday, for publishing a threatening Facebook post.
The minor, who was not named, attends Good Hope Middle School in Cullman.
‘This is a very serious situation,’ Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said on Friday
Another student was also arrested on Thursday, for publishing a threatening Facebook post; The minor, who was not named, attends Good Hope Middle School in Cullman.
Schools were placed on a ‘soft lockdown’ on Friday, following the online threat made by the child, which authorities did not believe to be credible.
Gentry said the youth will likely be charged with a crime. The Cullman County district attorney and youth services are currently working to determine what charge is most appropriate, he said.
Following these incidents, Barnette has asked parents in the community to have a serious conversation with their children about this kind of behavior, as well as to closely monitor their children’s social media use.
The Florida shooter who admitted to attacking his former high school in Parkland has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.
Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old Florida shooter, was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder on February 15, after he legally obtained an AR-15 rifle and admitted to using it to shoot and kill 17 people and injure 15 others at a high school in Parkland on February 14; The massacre has ignited a nationwide debate about gun control, led by surviving student victims