A 10-year-old in Florida was arrested Saturday after allegedly sending a text message threatening to shoot up his school.
Daniel Issac Marquez, a 10-year-old Florida boy was arrested Saturday, May 28, for threatening to pull off a mass shooting via text messages at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral, police said.
On Tuesday, June 2, Daniel’s father Dereck Marquez broke into tears while talking about his arrest. “At this point, I don’t feel comfortable saying anything because I don’t want to make a mistake,” the emotional father told The Post.
While the fifth-grader crime may seem like a joke, he was arrested and made viral in a Facebook post by Florida authorities, who have used him to set an example for other children who do not take gun violence seriously. The sheriff’s office also released his mugshot.
The minor was handcuffed and walked into a police cruiser for his written threat. Defending publicly exposing the juvenile, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said that “a child pulling a trigger equals the same aftermath.” Videos of the boy’s arrest were also posted on social media by police.
“I would appreciate not talking right now.” Marquez, 35, then mentioned hiring an attorney for his son before shutting down the brief interview with The Post. Marquez told Lee County deputies he was “expecting to meet with law enforcement” after being made aware of the text-message shooting threat allegedly sent by his son, according to an arrest report.
Daniel‘s arrest made headlines especially since it was a threat to shoot up a school and also it followed the mass shooting by teenage gunman Salvador Ramos who went on an absolute carnage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde Texas.
Sheriff Marceno called the boy’s messages “sickening” and said that the child needs to learn from his mistake.
“This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. Making sure our children are safe is paramount. We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second…NOT ONE SECOND to investigate this threat.”
The sheriff later added: “Real consequences. Lee County will have law and order.”
As per CNN, the teenager had used the social media application ‘Yubo’ to threaten school shootings and rape and also to show off a rifle he had purchased.
Keanna Baxter, 17, told the San Antonio Express-News that she had learned how the 18-year-old shooter could be unpredictable from a friend who had dated him. Baxter told the outlet, “He was overall just aggressive, like violent…He would try and fight women. He would try and fight anyone who told him no – if he didn’t get his way, he’d go crazy.”
Watch the video below for more details: