Heightened security after student found with gun in backpack after social media threat in Queens
BAYSIDE, Queens (WABC) -- Students at a high school in Bayside, Queens saw heightened security after police stopped a possible school shooting.
Officers found a loaded handgun with 13 rounds inside of a teen's backpack after he posted disturbing images on social media.
The threat was posted on Instagram just after 10:15 a.m. Thursday, when the 16-year-old student was at school in Bayside.
Eyewitness News obtained a picture of the threat the teen posted on Instagram.
It looks like schoolwork with white text typed out over it including the words, "Ts Gmt... boutta shoot the school up."
Authorities believe the letters stood for, "this (expletive) gets me tight," in other words, "makes me angry."
Instagram informed the FBI about a disturbing threat to shoot up a school posted it its platform.
The FBI tracked the IP address to Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside and immediately called the NYPD.
Police tracked the phone number associated with the IP adress to the 16-year-old sophomore and called the number to be sure.
"It actually shows he's really going to do it because, you know, threats can be like, you know, empty threats. But actually bringing it in, you know, it's really crazy," said senior Brian Lopez.
The 16-year-old sophomore, who has no criminal history, was taken out of the classroom and arrested a little more than two hours after the threat was posted on Instagram.
When police searched his backpack, they found a Taurus 9 mm loaded with 11 rounds and an extended magazine with another two rounds. The 13 bullets never had a chance to fire.
"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 also apparently had three phones, but only one was handed over.
"Where did he get this gun from? This taurus 9 mm, that's no small toy that's pretty active gun, it's also just bought recently in January this year which means it had about 9 months to get to New York CIty in the hands of a 16-year-old. Scary stuff there in light of today's violence. So all things worked out well," ABC News Contributor and retired NYPD Chief of Detectives Bob Boyce said.
He said it shows how far law enforcement partnerships have evolved, from an Instagram post to an arrest in just two hours.
Currently there is school cell phone ban and students are required to turn in their phone at the beginning of the school day.
This has shocked the community. Cardozo High School is a no scan school which means they do not scan students or their belongings with metal detectors.
"Last night, yeah, I saw it on the news. I got, like, emails and stuff. I got a Citizen App notification, everything. I saw Mayor Adams talking about it like it was. It was crazy," said senior Dashan Preet.
The school had no gun related offenses in the past year.
"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.
"We don't want any of that kind of threat to be around our neighborhood," a resident said.
The teen was charged on Friday with gun possession and making a terroristic threat.
Police are working to figure out how he got a gun and what was his motive.
The mayor said his message to parents at this school was to hug their kids, 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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