A New York City high school student was arrested after the FBI notified local authorities that they received a tip.
The student had a loaded handgun in his possession that had 13 rounds in the magazine.
“Earlier today, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received a tip regarding a potential school shooting at Benjamin Cardoso High School in New York City,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on social media.
“Based on a quick response by the NYPD and FBI personnel, a student was arrested with a loaded firearm. The FBI will continue to work tirelessly to protect our children. Huge thanks to the NYPD and @NewYorkFBI for teaming up yet again to protect our country,” he added.
The 16-year-old student, who attends Queens’s Benjamin Cardozo High School, had posted a message on Instagram that included “boutta shoot the school up.”
The FBI became aware of the tip at 11:33 a.m. and provided the information to police in New York City who arrested him about an hour later.
Mayor Eric Adams said the incident was a societal failure.
“This was a failure of a society that allows 16-year-olds to get so close to shooting up a school and potentially killing classmates and teachers,” he said, adding the system still “worked.”
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New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch posted on social media that the incident was “terrifying” but acknowledged the stoppage of a “potential tragedy.”
“While this incident is terrifying, it is an example of the law enforcement apparatus at the federal and local levels doing everything right. It is literally the system, our protocols, our training, and our processes working as they should that stopped a potential tragedy,” she wrote.