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St. Petersburg Teen, 14, Accused of Threatening Copycat School Shooting

Arrest | Crime | Police

The teen posted a picture of himself holding what appeared to be an AR-15-style rifle and made the threats on Snapchat while at a friend’s home, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said.

PINELLAS COUNTY – A St. Petersburg teen is accused of threatening a copycat shooting to the killings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.

Edward Charles Osgood, 14, of St. Petersburg, was charged with one count of written threats to kill or do bodily injury; electronic communication. He is a student at Lealman Innovation Academy.

Deputies said they received  several calls about 1:15 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 17) from concerned residents who reported the threatening post on Snapchat.The post, which went up on Snapchat about 11 p.m. Friday (Feb. 16), specifically stated “Round 3 on Florida on Tuesday.” Osgood quoted this while holding what appeared to be an AR-15 style assault rifle and he indicated the shooting would occur at the Lealman Innovation Academy, 4900 28th St. N in unincorporated Pinellas County.

Deputies said they went to Osgood’s house and spoke with his parents. After that, they talked with Osgood.

Deputies introduced themselves and Osgood immediately stated, “I know why you are here, because of the photo.” Deputies said Osgood grabbed his phone and went to the picture section on his phone and showed detectives the photograph with the statement “Round 3 on Florida on Tuesday.” The picture showed him holding what appeared to be an AR-15-style assault rifle. Osgood admitted he took the selfie photograph and made the post on his Snapchat account.

Osgood told deputies that he had spent the previous night at a friend’s house. Osgood told deputies that he was checking his Snapchat account and saw a recent post of a white man wearing a black outfit holding a rifle. The caption on the photo read “Round 2 on Florida tomorrow.” This was in reference to a threatening Snapchat post in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that went viral throughout the state of Florida.

Osgood told deputies he thought the post was “messed up.” Osgood then saw his friend’s AR-15 replica BB gun in the corner of the room, so he grabbed the gun and took a selfie of himself
holding the replica AR-15 rifle. Osgood said he thought he would be “funny” and posted the photograph on his Snapchat page with the caption, “Round 3 on Florida on Tuesday” and identified Lealman Innovation as the target.

Round 1 was Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County; Round 2 in Spartanburg; and Round 3 was to be Lealman Innovation Academy, deputies said. (The man who posted the Snapchat regarding Round 2 has been arrested by the Spartanburg Police Department.)

Because of the threatening nature of Osgood’s Snapchat post, deputies arrested him. They also recovered the AR-15-style rifle depicted in the threatening Snapchat post from his friend’s house. The AR-15-style rifle was later identified as a BB gun.

Since Wednesday (Feb. 14), the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has received several complaints of suspicious individuals who might commit acts similar to what occurred in Broward County. No other arrests have been made but deputies continue to investigate the complaints. Deputies said they encourage the public to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately so all information can be investigated.

Pinellas Sheriff | Crime | Threats | School Shooting | Arrests | Tampabay News

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