Student found with loaded gun in backpack at Queens high school after threat posted online
BAYSIDE, Queens (WABC) -- A student, who was in possession of a gun, was arrested Thursday after allegedly making threats against fellow students at a high school in Queens, according to officials.
The incident happened around 10:15 a.m. at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside.
Authorities say a 16-year-old boy in the 10th grade posted an image to Instagram, showing a piece of school work and words in white text saying, "Ts Gmt... boutta shoot the school up."
Authorities believe the letters stood for, "this (expletive) gets me tight," in other words, "makes me angry."
"Someone saw the post from the student and did what we ask all New Yorkers to do. If you see something, say something, but most importantly do something, and that is what they did," Mayor Eric Adams said.
What they did was tip off the FBI. It identified the phone number behind the Instagram account, geo-tagged it to the school, and alerted the NYPD, which says school safety officers then found the 16-year-old sophomore, who has no criminal history. His phone rang when they called that number.
Officials say they removed him from the classroom, brought him to an empty classroom and searched his belongings after receiving consent from a parent.
"One of the student's parents was then contacted and consented to a search of the subject's belongings," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. "In his backpack, officers recovered a black semi-automatic handgun, a 9mm Taurus GX4. The gun was loaded with 13 rounds in the magazine."
The student was under arrest a little more than two hours after that threat appeared on Instagram.
"I'm glad what could have happened didn't happen," said Benjamin Cardozo High School basketball coach Ron Naclerio. "And unfortunately, it's a sign of the times."
Naclerio has coached basketball at Cardozo for 50 years, is an alum of the school and has been impacted by gun violence before.
"I've had nine players shot and killed. I've had four parents shot and killed over my career," he said.
Families in Bayside are also grateful it was averted this time.
"We don't want any of that kind of threat to be around our neighborhood," said a neighbor named Ellie.
The mayor said his message to parents at this school was to hug their kids tonight, and to students he said, "Take care of yourselves and talk to someone if you need to speak about this incident. Don't bottle it up inside."
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