Teenager Arrested After Threatening to Shoot Up School

A teenager was arrested after saying he would be “shooting up” his local high school.

Shiquan Eleek Ratchford, 17, was arrested after posting the threat to Facebook on Wednesday, Jan. 3, Gaston County Police said in a statement.

Ratchford is a former student at Hunter Huss High School in Gaston County, North Carolina.

He posted the message “[Expletive], I will be shooting up Hunter Huss High School tomorrow.”

At the time he did not have a handgun or other weapon, police said.

Ratchford was arrested just after midnight on Jan. 3 on charges of disorderly conduct by disrupting students, cyberstalking, and making a false report of mass violence on educational property, according to the police statement.

They told Gaston Gazette that the threat led to multiple students not going to school, interfering with their education.

Hunter Huss High increased security despite the arrest, requiring students to go through metal detectors before entering the school, reported Gaston Gazette.

Police said Ratchford is currently in Gaston County Jail under a $250,000 secured bond.

He had been booked into the jail four times in 2017 on charges including misdemeanor assault and battery and misdemeanor disorderly conduct at school, reported Gaston Gazette.