Sheriff: 13-year-old accused of threatening school shooting

PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A 13-year-old boy was arrested on terrorism charges after alleging threatening to shoot up the Prescott middle school he attended, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said.

The student allegedly made the threat three times May 17 while speaking to the bus driver before getting off the bus, a sheriff’s office said Wednesday in a statement.

The driver told school school administrators who contacted the boy’s mother and the sheriff’s office, the statement said.

The boy admitted he threatened to shoot up the school but said he didn’t intend to do so and was only trying to distract the driver while a friend changed seats, the statement said.

It said the boy was arrested and booked into a juvenile detention facility on charges of making a terrorist threat and of threatening or intimidating, interference or disruption of an educational institution.

The boy’s mother said there were guns at home locked in a safe and she was advised to change its combination in case the boy knew the current one, the statement said.

Sheriff David Rhodes said students making dangerous threats would be arrested. “‘I wasn’t serious’ isn’t a defense, so please be aware that your words have consequences,” Rhodes said.

The boy’s identity wasn’t released.