NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – A Long Island student was arrested Tuesday for allegedly making a terroristic threat against his high school.
Oketa Orlando Blair Jr. “expressed his desire to conduct a violent act towards students and faculty members” at Westbury High School, Nassau County police said Wednesday.
“The faculty staff became aware of the threat and the school administration immediately notified Old Westbury Police Department,” police said.
The 18-year-old was arrested at his home without incident, according to police. He was charged with making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment.
Blair, of Westbury, allegedly posted “threatening Twitter messages against the school,” according to a letter sent to families and staff by superintendent Tahira A. DuPree Chase.
“Ima shoot everyone in that school,” one of the messages allegedly said, according to charging documents from prosecutors obtained by Newsday.
Westbury School District schools were open Wednesday as scheduled.
In her letter, Chase said the district is aware of the “anxiety and fear” some in the school community are feeling, and she said the district has asked for a police presence at schools for the remainder of the week to provide reassurance. Social and emotional support will also be available.
Following Blair's arrest, a judge issued an Extreme Risk Protection Order that prevents him from purchasing any firearms.
He was set to be arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Hempstead.
The alleged threats came a week after 19 students and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The 18-year-old gunman was killed by authorities in what was the deadliest shooting at a school since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.
Last week, a 16-year-old student was arrested in Suffolk County after he allegedly made an Instagram post threatening a mass shooting at Bellport High School. He was also charged with making a terroristic threat and aggravated harassment.
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