The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has announced the arrest of a student who allegedly threatened a school shooting. HCSO’s Threat Assessment and Response Team says it received an anonymous online tip about a threat to carry out a shooting at Dowdell Middle Magnet School around 7:42 a.m. on September 6, 2024.

13-year-old Carmen Roman allegedly wrote on her Instagram account that, “im the one whos gonna shoot up dowdell middle magnet.” Around 8:20 a.m., detectives responded to the school where they met Roman.

Authorities say Roman claimed the note was meant as a joke. Roman was taken into custody and charged with one count of Written or Electronic Threat to Conduct a Mass Shooting or Act of Terrorism and one count of Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communications Device.

No weapons were found in Roman’s possession at the time of her arrest.

 

❗️𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃❗️
HCSO has arrested Carmen Roman, 13, a Dowdell Middle Magnet School, for threatening a school shooting.

“It’s horrific to see that, in just two days, we’ve had students making online threats as jokes. Let me be clear. These threats are not funny, and they… pic.twitter.com/TeUifJ6xyr

— HCSO (@HCSOSheriff) September 6, 2024