Queens, NY – A 16-year-old Cardozo High School student was arrested after allegedly bringing a loaded gun into his Bayside school and posting a threat on Instagram saying he would “shoot the school up,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
Investigators said Meta, the parent company of Instagram, alerted the FBI on Wednesday morning after a post appeared at about 10:17 a.m. showing a drawing of a human body outline alongside the threat. Records tied the post to an IP address inside the high school, according to the complaint.
Authorities tracked the account to the Springfield Gardens teenager, who was quickly located inside a conference room at the school with a backpack and a cellphone. When an NYPD officer dialed the number linked to the Instagram post, the call rang on the phone in the teen’s possession, prosecutors said.
A search of his backpack uncovered a black Taurus GX4 9mm pistol loaded with 11 rounds and an additional magazine extender with two more rounds, officials said.
The student was arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Leigh Cheng on multiple charges including two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, making a terroristic threat, and possession of a firearm on school grounds. He was ordered to return to court on Sept. 26. If convicted as a youthful offender, he faces up to four years in prison.
“This incident could have ended in tragedy,” DA Katz said. “Thanks to the quick action of our law enforcement partners at the NYPD and the FBI, no one was hurt.”
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Mirza Hadzic of the Felony Trial Bureau IV under the supervision of senior trial division leadership.
Key Points
- A 16-year-old Cardozo High School student was charged after allegedly threatening online to “shoot the school up.”
- Police say the teen brought a loaded Taurus 9mm pistol with extra ammunition into the school.
- He faces multiple weapons and terroristic threat charges and is due back in court on Sept. 26.
A chilling threat was stopped before it turned deadly in a Queens high school.
