By: Sharon Aron Baron
A juvenile was arrested on Wednesday after making a threat on social media to shoot up JP Taravella High School.
Tyler Ahrens, 17, of Tamarac was charged with a felony after the Coral Springs Police Department received a call from California advising them of a potential threat to one of the local high schools via YouTube. An investigation into the alleged threat indicated it was posted by username “Sharp Shooter” who wrote:
“I want to be a professional school shooter (no sarcasm, Broward County Florida) JP Taravella HS is my target tomorrow. I’M LEGIT NOT JOKING AROUND! SPREAD MY MESSAGE!!!!”
During the course of the investigation, a request for subscriber information from Google was obtained providing the location of that username. A check of the site proved that the original post had been edited by the person which stated:
“For who ever is reading this, I will be shooting up my high school in Broward County FL. Tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 when school starts. Round 2. JP Travels HS! (I am legit, make my presence known).”
According to Coral Springs Police, upon obtaining the identity of “Sharp Shooter” as Ahrens along with his Tamarac address, detectives responded to his home where contact was made with him in the presence of his parents. Upon advising him of the nature of the investigation, Ahrens uttered that he was just joking and would not carry out his threat. There were firearms within the home and located in their secured location by his father. Ahrens was placed into custody, and transported to CSPD jail. After being advised of his Miranda rights, he confessed to posting the threads on YouTube.
Ahrens would have graduated from JP Taravella in 2020 according to his Facebook profile.. He is being held in juvenile detention.