Mashpee teen reportedly threatens to shoot up gym on Twitter

MASHPEE (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) A Mashpee High School student was arrested after he reportedly threatened to shoot up the Rockland gym during a school basketball game.

Rockland Superintendent John Retchless told FOX 25 that the 16-year-old student reportedly tweeted at a Rockland student that he wanted to shoot up the gym when the two rival high schools squared off in basketball on Tuesday night.

The mother of the Rockland student took a screen shot of the tweet and reported it to the school.

The school immediately reported the threat to police, and within hours, the teen was in custody.

School administrators at Rockland alerted parents about the very public threat via a phone call and a letter. As a precaution, the school added additional security at Tuesday night's game.

Police say the unidentified teen has been charged with threatening to commit a crime, disrupting a school assembly, and making a threat causing a school disruption. The third charge is considered a felony offense.

Police say there is no evidence to indicate that the Mashpee teen actually planned to carry out the threat, but they don't know for sure and did not want to take any chances.

The Mashpee teen is expected to appear in juvenile court at an unknown date.

Cox Media Group