PEMBROKE PINES (AP) — A 12-year-old South Florida middle school student was accused of bringing weapons onto school property after being found with a slingshot, two rocks and four knives in his backpack, police said.
The student at Walter C. Young Middle School in Pembroke Pines was arrested on Thursday. Police said the school's resource officer heard rumors that the boy had a slingshot and found the items in his backpack when he questioned him.
The boy did not make any threats or brandish the weapons.
He was taken to a juvenile assessment center.
The arrest follows a recent rise in threats at South Florida schools, authorities said.
Last week, a 17-year-old student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was arrested on a count of writing threats to conduct a mass shooting after making a threat against the school in a group text, police said. The Parkland school was the site of a mass shooting that killed 17 on Valentine's Day in 2018.
On Tuesday, a student was arrested in connection with threats made at Miami Lakes-Hialeah Senior High School. On Monday, two other student were arrested after police said they made threats at other schools in Miami-Dade County.
And in central Florida on Thursday, a 15-year-old student was arrested after threatening a mass shooting at Lyman High School in Longwood, police said. Messages listing Friday's date and threatening a shooting were found on multiple bathroom walls, an arrest affidavit said.
"Parents, please take this moment to speak with your children about the severe consequences of bringing weapons of any kind onto school property," Pembroke Pines police said in a news release. "These are serious charges and may result in an arrest, regardless of the age of the suspect."