Police arrested a trio of baby-faced Florida teens for “credibly” threatening to kill classmates named on a lengthy “hit list,” officials said Friday.
The St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office said investigators discovered group text messages that identified targets they wanted to “physically harm” or murder outright.
Nikita Calantropo, 15; Ron Quinones, 14; and Kiryl Nerad, 14, allegedly posted pictures of their targets with their faces circled — along with aerial photographs of Creekside High School, St. John’s County Sheriff Robert Hardwick said.
“The ‘hit list’ was created for select students the group wanted to physically harm and the ‘lethal hit list’ was created for students the group wanted to kill,” the department said in a Facebook post.
The group chats also included a picture of the suburban Jacksonville-area school with a specific “on-campus” location circled — and discussed the use of firearms.
Deputies arrested the three boys for written threats to kill or do bodily harm and they were taken to St. John’s County jail for processing.
Students were pulled from classes earlier this week as the investigation advanced — and the families of kids on the hit lists were notified, Creekside principal Steven McCormick said in a message to parents.
“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of our children and this is another example of the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office commitment to protect the more than 50,000 students who attend classes on a daily basis,” Sheriff Hardwick said in a statement.
Officials stressed that they believed the threats were authentic and warranted swift action.
“I am proud of the youth services deputies assigned to this investigation, who acted quickly on the information that was provided and prevented a potential tragedy,” Hardwick said.
St. John’s County School Superintendent Tim Forson urged parents to keep a close watch on their kids’ phone activities in the wake of the arrests.
“We have recently experienced behavior on social media and phones that is unacceptable,” he said. “There appears to be a lack of understanding of the serious nature of threatening statements that have been made.”
He also urged families to alert authorities if they become aware of suspicious correspondence.
“Please remind your children to speak up when they see something that concerns them,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials said Friday that they investigated social media rumors of a gun being brought to another high school roughly 40 miles away in Clay County.
While no weapon was found, the issuer of the threat was identified and disciplined, Middleburg High School principal Martin Aftuck said in a statement to parents.
The threat stemmed from an off-campus fight, authorities said.
“Please continue to talk to your children about the seriousness of these types of actions and we encourage students, if you see something, to say something,” Aftuck said.