A 15-year-old boy was arrested for terrorist threats Monday (August 31) in Fresno, California after school officials alerted police of an Instagram post with Eminem lyrics, The Fresno Bee reports.
The sophomore reportedly posted lyrics to Eminem’s song “I’m Back” that reference the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado that left 15 people dead.
“I take seven kids from Columbine, stand ’em all in a line, add an AK-47, a revolver, a nine, a MAC-11 and it oughtta solve the problem of mine” the post read. “And that’s a whole school of bullies shot up all at one time. I’m just like Shady and just as crazy as the world was over this whole Y2K thing.”
San Joaquin Memorial High School, the school where the suspect attends, and St. Anthony’s Catholic School, where the student previously attended, cancelled classes yesterday (September 1) in light of the reported threat.
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Police say that there were multiple factors to create alarm, such as the boy’s mother died, that he broke up with his girlfriend, that he quit the football team and that he was not performing well in school. He was described as a “loner” and “socially awkward.”
“These are really all of the things we look for in individuals that historically have been involved in incidents like Columbine,” Fresno police Chief Jerry Dyer said in a press conference. “So we’re very fortunate that this was brought to our attention.”
Law enforcement obtained a search warrant for the suspect’s home and found multiple firearms, ammunition and a bulletproof vest. The student and his father said they were unaware of the guns, which were unregistered. The father, who has an active restraining order against him, could face weapons charges. Police confiscated the weaponry, as well as the student’s iPad and cellphone.
The family lawyer, Linden Lindahl, said that the student is not the boy that law enforcement is portraying him as. The suspect is claiming he was hacked.
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“He was cooperative,” Lindahl said, according to ABC 30 Action News.”He spoke with the officers. Denied being bullied. Denied posting the Instagram.”
The teenager is currently in juvenile detention.
A screenshot of the post is as follows via ABC:
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For additional Eminem coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
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