According to police, the adolescent cousin of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooter was detained after threatening to “do the same thing” at a nearby school.
The 17-year-old was detained on Monday on suspicion of making threats to use violence to inflict significant bodily harm and making terroristic threats that could cause serious bodily harm to the public. NBC News is withholding his name because he is a minor.
According to police, the boy’s mother allegedly called the San Antonio Police Department on Monday to report that her son had threatened to carry out a school shooting.
She claimed he “planned to ‘do the same thing’ as his cousin, who executed a mass shooting 2022 at an elementary school,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
The juvenile suspect is a relative of Salvador Ramos, who murdered 19 children and two instructors in May 2022 at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. Police stated that the document was factual but did not specify the youngsters’ familial connection.
They are related to the New York Times, Sgt. Washington Moscoso revealed.
The mother was “especially concerned” due to the fact that her son was on probation, was drunk at the time, and they lived next to an elementary school, according to the affidavit.
After the juvenile suspect made unsettling remarks to his sister, who subsequently alerted her mother, the mother dialed 911.
According to the complaint, the mother told officers she overheard her son trying to “acquire an AR-15 through an illegal private sale” on the phone with an unidentified actor that morning.
According to the complaint, the sister informed officers that after giving her brother a ride, he threatened to shoot her in the head and that he would “shoot the school” while they were in the vehicle. According to reports, he said, “School is starting soon.”
According to police records, the sister thought the threat was believable “given the recent history of the family and the suspect’s knowledge of his cousin’s actions.”
The adolescent suspect was detained, spoken with by a detective, and “denied making any threats,” according to the report.
According to the San Antonio Police Department, he was taken into custody on a valid warrant. The accusations of making a terroristic threat against the school and threatening to carry out an act of violence that would cause significant bodily harm were related to his remarks to his sister.
It’s not immediately obvious if he has legal representation.
In a statement to San Antonio’s NBC station WOAI, the Edgewood Independent School District said it was informed that a teenager was being held by the police on suspicion of making a threat against a school on the west side of the city.
All students, instructors, and staff at Edgewood ISD are guaranteed safety and security. There is a designated Safety Officer for each campus. We urge everyone to report any shady behavior, according to the statement.
The episode was used by police as an illustration of “see something, say something.”
Parents and teachers should be aware that SAPD takes every report of threats seriously and will look into them and take appropriate action, according to police.