Florida boy, 15, is charged after 'signing a female classmate's name in a postcard to Santa threatening to shoot up a high school'
- On Monday a 15-year-old freshman at Wiregrass Ranch High school was arrested on a felony charge of written threats to kill or do bodily harm
- On November 4 he sent a postcard to Santa, delivered at a Macy's letter box
- In it he wrote: 'I have been panning this ... I am shooting up Wiregrass Ranch High School'
- He signed the postcard under the name of a female student
- Investigators interviewed her and determined she didn't pen the letter
- They dusted the postcard for fingerprints and it led them to the male student
- His prints were already on file from a previous misdemeanor arrest
A 15-year-old Florida boy has been arrested for threatening to launch a school shooting in a postcard he wrote to Santa this year, but signed under another classmate's name.
The ninth grader at Wiregrass Ranch High School was arrested Monday on a felony charge of written threats to kill or do bodily harm, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
The teen, from Wesley Chapel, was taken to a juvenile detention center.
He allegedly penned the letter to Santa, claiming he was going to carry out shootings at Wiregrass Ranch High, and signed it under the name of a female student.
The postcard was dropped off in a Macy's store Santa letter box on November 4, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
On Monday a 15-year-old boy at Wiregrass Ranch High school was arrested for writing a threat to shoot up the school in a letter to Santa, that he signed under a female student's name. File image of a Macy's Santa letter box above
Investigators were led to the boy after his fingerprints, which were already on file from a previous misdemeanor arrest, were found on the postcard. The school he attends and threatened to shoot up - Wiregrass Ranch High School - pictured above
'I have been planning this for im (sic), I am shooting up Wiregrass Ranch High School...' part of the letter said as per Patch.
Investigators first interviewed the female student whose name was signed on the postcard, but ruled her out as a suspect, Sheriffs Office spokesman Kevin Doll said.
Investigators were led to the boy after his fingerprints, which were already on file from a previous misdemeanor arrest, were found on the postcard.
When confronted by authorities, the boy said he didn't write that postcard and was never at the Macy's in the Shops at Wiregrass store, where the card was delivered.
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The Macy's in the Shops at Wiregrass store where the card was delivered pictured above
However, the student's grandmother told WFLA that he was joking when he sent the postcard.
'He's a nice boy here,' she said.
This is the second arrest in two weeks involving shooting threats at Wiregrass Ranch High.
On Monday May 13 a teacher and assistant principal said they hear a 17-year-old student say he was going to shoot up the school and and he 'hated this school and everybody in it', according to the Sheriff's Office.
That student later told deputies he did not have access to firearms and wouldn't hurt anyone in the school, according to an arrest report.
He faces a charge of a false report use of firearms and was released to his parents following his arrest.
