Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel recently fended off calls for his resignation (that many believe aren’t unfounded) over his department’s handling of the Stoneman Douglas High Shooting. A total of four deputies waited outside the school as Nikolas Cruz carried out his killing spree — after making a number of online death threats and sitting on law enforcement’s radar for months — but tragedy appears to have been averted in the same county as of Monday night. That is, the Broward Sheriff’s Department has responded to a report of online threats and discovered much more while following up.
CBS Miami reports that a 16-year-old teen made death threats about students while interacting in an online video game setting. A tipster made a call, and deputies paid a visit to the teen’s Pompano Beach family home and discovered a pipe bomb and an unspecified arsenal of weapons:
BSO responded to the suspect’s home and said they found a homemade pipe bomb and weapons.
Crews from bomb squad, violent crimes and strategic investigations divisions responded, along with Homeland Security and the FBI.
The unidentified teen was taken into custody and may be charged with a felony for possessing explosives. The local NBC affiliate follows up by saying that police and sheriff’s deputies have “made several similar arrests” in the wake of Cruz’s attack, although the outlet doesn’t provide additional details on whether these incidents occurred in close proximity to where the Stoneman Douglas attack occurred or whether they’ve been scattered across the U.S.