PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A 19-year-old Pembroke Pines high school student has been arrested after police said he threatened to shoot his enemies with a sniper rifle during class.
Jeremy Ossa faces a charge of making a false report.
"I'm going to go to the pawn shop, buy a sniper (rifle) and shoot my enemies from the recent past," Ossa reportedly said during a class at Somerset Academy North.
When questioned by police officers, Ossa said he made the statement as a joke. Officers said Ossa did not possess any weapons, and Ossa said he does not have access to weapons.
In recent months, several students in the Pembroke Pines area have been charged after making threats to schools or classmates. On Oct. 4, a 14-year-old Franklin Academy student was accused of posting threatening images on Instagram. A Silver Trail Middle School student, 13, was arrested the same day, accused of saying he wanted to commit a school shooting in front of other students and faculty.
In September, a 13-year-old Pines Middle School student threatened to shoot up the school during a Instagram group chat, police said. The student, who said the statement was a joke, is facing a charge of making a false report.
The city and the police department launched a social media campaign after the spate of arrests, urging students not to make threats even as a joke. The campaign used the hashtag "#ThinkBeforeYouPost."
"Please tell your friends and your children threats against students and schools about guns and violence is serious. It's not a joke," Frank Ortis, the mayor of Pembroke Pines, said in a video for the campaign.
Authorities in South Florida have seen an uptick in threats to schools after a gunman opened fire inside Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. Seventeen people were killed and more than dozen were wounded in the shooting.