LA PLATA, Md. (May 15, 2018)—Police in Charles County have charged a local teenager with making a threat of mass violence after the youth allegedly posted a photo of a gun and ammo on an unspecified social media site and indicated that he was going to commit an act of violence against students at a local public school.
On Sunday, May 13, the Charles County Sheriff's Office received a report of a suspicious post on social media. The post was a photo of a gun and ammunition along with a caption that indicated the person posting was going to shoot specific students at Milton Somers Middle School located at 300 Willow Lane in La Plata.
Officers launched an immediate investigation and learned the identity of the suspect—a 13-year-old male who was also a former student at the school. Detectives, along with the initial responding officer, served a search warrant at the suspect's residence and learned the gun that was shown on social media was at a friend's house.
Officers obtained a search warrant for that house and recovered a starter pistol along with 49 rounds of blank ammunition. The gun in this case looks and sounds like a real handgun but the ammunition is blank, meaning it is incapable of being fired.
The suspect was charged as a juvenile on May 14 at 4:45 p.m. with making a threat of mass violence.
PFC M. McMullen, Cpl. R. Snyder, and Detective C. Gregory are continuing the investigation.