STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. – A teen was arrested by the FBI Thursday. Sept. 14, over a threat made to Sterling Heights High School.
“The threat, it was something to the effect of, ‘We’re going to shoot up Sterling Heights High,’” Warren Consolidated Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Livernois said.
The teen arrested claimed it was a joke, but he is still facing charges. Two guns were recovered upon his arrest at his home in Flushing near Flint.
Livernois said the threat was posted on a chat through a gaming platform.
It was first spotted by the FBI as he said they have a task force that actively searches for such threats.
“Luckily, a member of the Sterling Heights Police had connections with an FBI task force that was able to track this student down and in a matter of five or six hours they had identified the student and brought him into custody,” Livernois said.
Livernois said these investigative tactics have proven very successful.
“In all the threats that we’ve dealt with in the last several years, we have identified and brought into custody just about every one of them either through this internet tracking or from a student who’s comfortable coming forward and sharing this information with adults,” he said.
He said the teen arrested may know a student at Sterling Heights High School but appears to have no other connection to the district.