Teen arrested after threatening shooting at Uvalde High School, authorities say

SAN ANTONIO – A 16-year-old has been arrested after threatening a shooting at Uvalde High School, according to district officials and Uvalde police.

In a letter to Uvalde CISD parents and faculty on Tuesday, officials said a student made the threat on social media on Monday night.

The threat was reported in the STOPit app, and it was reported to Uvalde police and the Texas Department of Public Safety, officials said.

Authorities located the teenager and the teenager’s parents at their house on Monday night.

Uvalde police said the teenager admitted to threatening another juvenile.

The teenager was charged with making a terroristic threat and taken to a juvenile detention facility, according to Uvalde PD.

The juvenile’s name was not released because of their age.

District officials encouraged students, staff, and the public to report inappropriate behavior.

“We understand that this message may cause additional stress for some of you. However, we believe it is important to communicate these situations when they occur. We will continue to work with the state and local law enforcement agencies to help keep our students and staff safe,” the letter says.

The threat has some parents on edge nearly five months after the Robb Elementary tragedy.

Kimberly Garcia, Amerie Jo Garza’s mom, tweeted, “This is exactly why I will not let my son attend UCISD”

Mary Beth Fisk, CEO of the Ecumenical Center and director of the Uvalde Together Resiliency Center, said a threat like this can be retraumatizing for the community as a whole.

”Every time we hear of a trauma and especially if the trauma or potential traumas that may bring back feelings of unsafe and being unsafe, our students can be retraumatized, our parents can be retraumatized, the community can be traumatized, and so it’s unfortunate,” Fisk said.

She explained as parents are talking with their high school students about what happened, they need to take things at their child’s pace.

“It’s still very important as parents to listen to your young person, listen to your teenager. Sometimes they don’t want to talk and we understand that but give them an opportunity not to isolate themselves with feelings or fears,” Fisk said.

The community is still reeling from the May 24 massacre at Robb Elementary School that took the lives of 19 students and two teachers. Since then, the district suspended the entire police department amid criticism of their response to the mass shooting.

UCISD said DPS troopers would patrol campus and extracurricular activities.

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