Cumberland student arrested after threatening to shoot up high school

A student at Gray's Creek High School in Cumberland County was arrested Friday after he allegedly made a threat to bring a gun to school and open fire, authorities said.

Christopher Tavon Mitchell, 17, made the threat to his teacher after arriving late to school, the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said in a written statement. Mitchell was being held Friday at the Cumberland County Detention Center under a $10,000 secure bond, authorities said.

Many local school districts are enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for school violence in the wake of a school massacre that happened last week at a South Florida high school that left 17 people dead. The student in that attack, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, remains in custody in connection with the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Several people have said Cruz had attacked other students and had made violent threats on social media.

That school shooting has renewed the debate about gun control and how to reign in school violence.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott and top state lawmakers made the most significant move toward gun control in Florida in decades, in defiance of the National Rifle Association, though some of their ideas fell short of what student advocates pleaded for after they lost 17 classmates and staff members last week in one of the deadliest school shootings in American history.

Scott, a Republican, backed raising the minimum age to buy any firearm, including semi-automatic rifles, to 21 from 18 — a restriction opposed by the NRA, one of the most powerful special interest groups in Tallahassee.

President Donald Trump is pushing the idea of arming some teachers who are "gun-adept people" but has also suggested increasing the minimum age for buying assault rifles from 18 to 21.

In Cumberland County, the sheriff's office said it will pursue charges against anyone who makes a violent threat involving a school, whether it's made verbally or posted to social media.

The sheriff's office urged parents to speak to their children and warn them about reporting threats that they hear or see. The sheriff's office said tips can be reported to the county's Speak Up Hotline at 1-866-SPEAK-UP or 1-866-779-8587 around the clock.

The sheriff also advised parents to warn their children about the seriousness of making what can be construed as threatening statements.