More Alabama high school students have been arrested following alleged threats of violence in Birmingham and Calhoun County.
The arrests include one teen for a bomb threat. The others were for shooting threats.
The investigation began after a parent reported a threat of violence toward another student. The complaint was made to a school resource officer.
The student is charged with first-degree making a terroristic threat, which is a felony crime. He or she is being held in the Coosa Valley Juvenile Detention Center.
Wade said an investigation is ongoing into a social media threat against several schools in the county.
“While we do not believe this juvenile suspect is the creator of the widely spread social media message,’’ Wade said, “the juvenile did reference the message, and use the fear it had created, as part of their threat toward the other student.”
On Wednesday, September 11, with the assistance of the Homewood Police Department, the Birmingham Police Department’s Intelligence Unit alerted Birmingham school resources officers someone made a social media threat to carry out a shooting at Carver and Parker High School.
The BPD Intelligence Unit notified BPD Felony Assault detectives, who obtained a search warrant in connection to the investigation.
BPD Narcotics Unit carried out a search warrant on home in Northern Birmingham, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. The search warrant aided detectives in their investigation.
The 16-year-old arrested is a Carver High School student. He is being held in the Jefferson County Youth Detention Center where he is being held on a charge of first-degree making a terroristic threat.
On Thursday, a 16-year-old boy was taken into custody for making a bomb threat at Woodlawn High School. The threat was made midday, and the student was arrested at the high school on a terroristic threat charge.
About 10:30 a.m. Friday, school resource officers at Birmingham’s Wenonah High School were alerted of a student making a terroristic threat in a crowded classroom.
The 16-year-old boy was in class when several classmates made a joke about him that “he didn’t like.”
The suspect, Fitzgerald said, responded by saying he was going to carry out a shooting at the school this upcoming Monday. Several students and a teacher were present when the suspect made the verbal threat.
The teen was charged with second-degree making a terroristic threat.
The students are the latest Alabama teen charged in a rash of threats statewide in recent weeks following the high-profile deadly school shooting in Georgia.
Over the past week, law enforcement officials in Birmingham, Montgomery, Dothan and Southside have announced arrests of teens for alleged threats.
