Teen arrested for Instagram 'threat' that closed California high school
A Fresno, Calif. high school was closed Tuesday over alleged threats made by a student on Instagram, The Fresno Bee reports.
The unidentified 15-year-old male posted a version of the lyrics from the song “Rap God” by Eminem that included the words, “I take seven kids from Columbine, stand ’em all in line/Add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine/A MAC-11 and it oughta solve the problem of mine.” Here’s the screenshot Tweeted by ABC30’s Veronica Miracle:
The boy was arrested on charges of making terrorist threats and disrupting school activities. The Bee says administrators at San Joaquin Memorial High “contacted police after seeing a post on the student’s Instagram account.”
A subsequent search of the boy’s home turned up a replica AK-47 Airsoft rifle, along with a revolver legally registered to the boy’s father, the Bee said.
The boy’s mother recently died, and his friends allegedly told detectives he had been bullied. “For these reasons, [Fresno Police Chief Jerry] Dyer said officers thought the boy might have had cause to carry out the threats,” the Bee reported.
The boy’s attorney, Linden Lindahl, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But he told the Bee that his client didn’t post the Instagram message and was not depressed. He will nevertheless undergo a mental health evaluation, the Bee reported.
Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.