SandyMaloneNaples, FL – Law enforcement’s message of “See Something, Say Something” was working on Monday after police arrested two students, and had a third student under investigation, at three different schools in Collier County.
Police said a tipster notified them last Friday that Benjamin Mendoza, 18, had brought a gas mask and knife to Palmetto Ridge High School on Thursday, the day after a gunman brutally murdered 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The person who notified police also said that Mendoza had previously made “disturbing comments” about the Las Vegas music festival shooting, WFTV reported.
When police arrested Mendoza on Monday, they found a knife, a “realistic looking” Los Angeles Police Department badge, and a map of the school and a list of student names, the Naples Daily News reported.
There was a drawing of a student, with bullet holes in the chest and head and the words “dead ha ha dead,” written on the back of the page the list of student names was on, police said.
A press release from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office said Mendoza’s backpack also contained a small notebook filled with stories and drawings “depicting students as victims and suspects in murders and other crimes,” a map of Palmetto Ridge High School, and a note that said “shoot up school” and “school shoot animae dead.”
Police said Mendoza has been charged with possession of a weapon on school grounds and disruption of as school function.
Collier County deputies also arrested a student at Corkscrew Middle School on Monday after he was accused of having a knife in his locker, the Naples Daily News reported.
Yet another Collier County student remained under investigation and “under law enforcement supervision” on Monday, after authorities discovered he’d written a hit list, shooting plan, and suicide note, according to the Naples Daily News.