AndrewBlakePort Huron, MI – New England Patriots star receiver Julian Edelman was credited with stopping a potential school shooting in Michigan after he alerted police to a threat made on his Instagram account.
Edelman was in Texas visiting former teammate Danny Amendola in March when he was alerted to a comment on his Instagram feed from someone who said they were going to shoot up their school, according to The New York Times.
The message read: “I’m going to shoot my school up watch the news.”
Edelman quickly told his assistant Shannen Moen about the threat, and Moen combed through hundreds of comments on Edelman’s Instagram account and found the threat.
Once he found it, Moen called 911, The New York Times reported.
A police officer arrived and saw the screen shot of the threat, and then called her police chief.
Two detectives went to Moen’s house in Boston and got information on the post. Then the officers made an emergency records request for the account holder’s information.
Police determined that the threatening message came from Port Huron, Michigan.
The detectives notified police in Michigan, and officers immediately went to the house where the message originated.
The officers talked to a 14-year-old boy who admitted posting the threatening message.
Police found two rifles that were owned by the 14-year-old’s mother, according to Port Huron Police Captain Joseph Platzer.
Police said the boy’s threat targeted the middle school he attended
The boy was taken into custody and transported to a juvenile-detention center where he has remained, according to the New York Times.
He was charged with making a false report of a threat of terrorism, which is a felony. The maximum sentence for the charge was up to four years in jail.
“Any time someone makes a threat to shoot up a school or building, we take it very seriously,” Capt. Platzer said, according to the New York Times.
The local district attorney’s office was reviewing the case. The 14-year-old boy has had one court hearing.
Moen said that Edelman was in shock over the events.
The NFL star thanked the person who tipped him off about the message, calling him the real hero.