MISSION — A 17-year-old student was arrested Tuesday morning after sending his friends an alarming message Friday.
The Mission High School student was arraigned later Tuesday on a false alarm or report charge, a state jail felony, according to Mission police spokesman Lt. Jody Tittle.
The teen, who police are not identifying at this time, was subsequently booked into the Hidalgo County jail under a $10,000 bond.
Tittle said the teen posted to a Snapchat group between his friends that there was going to be a gun at school and for everyone to leave and that it was not a joke.
“It freaked out and it scared some people; some were in tears and some called their parents,” Tittle said of the recipients’ reaction.
Regarding the arrest, Tittle added, “This has taken up a lot of students’ time, teachers’ time, administrators’ time and law enforcement’s time. There are days I have to send out half my investigative team to make sure everything is safe. A kid just thinks he’s being funny, but you can’t do that anymore.”
If indicted for the state jail felony, the student faces between 180 days and two years in jail.
