Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that a 16-year-old high school student was charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon, making a terroristic threat and other crimes for allegedly posting to social media on September 18 that he would “shoot the school up.”

District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, a 16-year-old student brought a loaded gun into his high school and threatened to do harm. Thanks to the quick action of our law enforcement partners at the NYPD and the FBI, a tragedy was averted. Gun violence has stolen too many young lives in our communities, and we are extremely grateful that this incident did not result in anyone being hurt or worse.”

The defendant, of Springfield Gardens, was arraigned today before Queens Supreme Court Justice Leigh Cheng on a complaint charging him with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, making a terroristic threat, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, criminal possession of a firearm and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. Justice Cheng ordered him to return to court on September 26. If convicted and granted youthful offender status, he faces up to 1 1/3 to four years in prison.

DA Katz said that, according to the charges, on September 18, Meta, the parent company of Instagram, notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation that a user posted to the platform at approximately 10:17 a.m. saying “TS GMT BOUTTA SHOOT THE SCHOOL UP.”

Records reviewed by the FBI identified the last location of the IP Address associated with the Instagram account as Benjamin Cardozo High School in Bayside. The Instagram post included a photo of what appeared to be classwork depicting a drawing of the outline of a human body overlaid with the text “TS GMT BOUTTA SHOOT THE SCHOOL UP”.

An NYPD database review identified the phone number connected to the IP address to be associated with the 16-year-old defendant. NYPD officers immediately responded to the school and observed the defendant inside a conference room with a backpack and a cellphone. An NYPD officer placed a call to the cell phone number associated with the Instagram account which then reflected an incoming call from the officer’s phone on the phone the 16-year-old had in his possession.

Subsequently, officers searched the defendants’ backpack and recovered a black Taurus GX4 9 mm pistol loaded with a magazine containing 11 9 mm rounds of ammunition and a magazine extender containing two 9 mm rounds of ammunition.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the New York City Police Department.

Assistant District Attorney Mirza Hadzic of the District Attorney’s Felony Trial Bureau IV is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Karen Rankin, Bureau Chief, and Robert Ferino and Tara DiGregorio, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney of the Supreme Court Trial Division Pishoy Yacoub.