NORWOOD — A 12-year-old Coakley Middle School student has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting threat at the school on Friday, according to Norwood Police detectives.
The incident began Friday morning when the Norwood Police Department received information that a group text had warned of a shooting to take place at the school on Monday.
One of the numbers in the group text was of unknown origin, while the others belonged to students.
Uniformed and plainclothes officers were sent to the middle school and high school to provide additional security.
The text message contained some details which led detectives to believe that the sender had some knowledge of the middle school, while other parts of the message made references to an “army” and alluded to a motive related to an unexplained event 17 years ago.
By 10:30 a.m., detectives had identified the student who sent the message and spoke with the student briefly by phone while the student was traveling out of state with family.
The Norwood Public Schools released information to Coakley families twice Friday morning, and the Norwood Police Department posted on their website early that afternoon that they considered the threat not credible.
On Sunday, after the student and family had returned to Norwood, detectives executed a search warrant at the student’s home, seizing a cell phone and arresting the student, who confessed in the presence of family.
No firearms were found in the student’s home, and the student will not be in school on Monday.
During Friday’s investigation, a subsequent text began circulating, suggesting that the high school was next.
However, police verified through the provider that it did not come from the original number and give no credence to the remark.
