12-year-old arrested after mass shooting threat at Norwood middle school

By Russ Reed

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    NORWOOD, Massachusetts (WCVB) — A 12-year-old middle school student has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting threat at Coakley Middle School in Norwood, according to police in the Massachusetts town.

Norwood police said the incident began Friday morning when they received information that a group text had warned of a shooting that was going to take place at Coakley Middle. The original information was in the form of a screenshot that cropped the beginning of the message, and police said they later learned the cropped part of the message was warning of an event that would happen Monday.

One of the numbers in the group text was of unknown origin while the others were students, according to police. Norwood police then began questioning the other students in that group to see if they could help identify the number, while uniformed and plainclothes officers were sent to Coakley Middle School and Norwood High School to provide additional security.

Norwood police said the text message contained some details that suggested the person who sent it had some knowledge of Coakley Middle. Other parts of the message contained passing references to an “army” and alluded to the motive having to do with an event 17 years ago that was not otherwise explained, according to police. The message also warned that the phone number being used could not be traced, police said.

Detectives immediately began working to identify the source of the number and although police said an effort was made to mask the number’s origin, detectives soon traced sufficient information to identify the source of the text. By 10:30 a.m. Friday, detectives were certain they had identified the student who sent the message and spoke with that student briefly by phone, according to police.

Norwood police said the suspected student was traveling out of state with family at the time the threat was made, which is why they did not release details about their investigation at that time.

Norwood Public Schools officials released information to the families of Coakley Middle School students twice Friday morning, while Norwood police posted to their website early Friday afternoon that they considered the threat to not be credible.

According to police, the student and their family had returned to Norwood by Sunday. Norwood police said detectives then obtained and executed a search warrant for the student’s home, seized a cellphone, and arrested the student.

Norwood police said the student confessed to making the threat in the presence of their family, and that student will not be in school on Monday.

Police noted that they did not find any firearms in the student’s home. Authorities are not releasing the name of the student who was arrested.

During Friday’s investigation, Norwood police said a subsequent text began to circulate regarding a shooting threat at Norwood High School. Police said the text was spoofed to appear that it came from the original number, but authorities said they verified through a cellular provider that it did not. Investigators said they give no credence to that text.

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