16-year-old arrested with gun after threatening St. Louis High School on social media

In order to prevent a possible school shooting, police in St. Louis County, Missouri, were able to arrest a 16-year-old boy armed with a pistol.

In order to prevent a possible school shooting, police in St. Louis County, Missouri, were able to arrest a 16-year-old boy armed with a pistol.

The arrest followed a social media video in which the teenager pointed a gun at the camera while tagging Ritenour High School.

How was the boy caught?

On Tuesday, officers received a tip through the Courage2Report hotline around 1 p.m. and spotted the suspect in a car at Husky Academy. They later discovered a fully loaded Glock pistol with an extended 15-round magazine.

As police approached, the boy fled and threw the gun away, but was quickly arrested. He claimed to have received the weapon from a friend, although investigators are still looking into its origins.

The video posted by the teenager also showed an unoccupied police vehicle belonging to a Husky Academy officer parked next to his car.

Read also: 14-year-old arrested after shooting at Georgia high school that leaves four dead

Since then, the former student has been charged with first-degree terroristic threats, resisting arrest and unlawful use of weapons.

Police Chief Aaron Jimenez later stressed the importance of the quick response, saying that the detailed information provided by the public was crucial in locating the suspect. “If that information had not been shared, the outcome could have been very different,” he noted.

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Since the beginning of the school year, police have dealt with seven unfounded threats of school shootings, which have led to three more arrests.