A 15-year-old South Portland High School student was arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening to “shoot up the school,” police said.
The male student, whose name has not been released because he is a minor, made threats Wednesday night over Snapchat, a popular photo-messaging app, according to South Portland Lt. Frank Clark. Fellow students reported the alleged threat the next morning, Clark said.
Police intercepted the student Thursday morning in the parking lot of the South Portland Community Center as he was walking to school, Clark said. The student was carrying a knife but no firearms, he said.
The student has been charged with terrorizing and carrying a concealed weapon, Clark said. He is under house arrest and has no prior history with South Portland police. The case will be referred to the Maine Juvenile Community Corrections Office, Clark said.
While police were searching for the student Thursday morning, officers went to the school to provide additional security.
“We really think students did the absolute right thing: They saw something, and they said something,” Superintendent of Schools Ken Kunin said.
The arrest comes one day after at least 17 people were shot to death at a Parkland, Florida, high school, allegedly by one of the school’s former students.
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