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Violent Threats Against Schools Across Southwest Florida

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Threats of violence against schools have been reported all across Southwest Florida recently. Below is what we know so far. All the stories are developing, so the information will be updated as we learn more. 

View Threats Against Florida Schools Since Parkland in a full screen map. It's being updated. Map created by WGCU's Alexandra Figares and Rachel Iacovone. 

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UPDATED at 4:43 PM

Southeast High School in Bradenton was on lockdown today following a threat.

The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office says a threat was found written on a school restroom wall this morning. The Herald Tribune reports the school was on lockdown, until 12:30 p.m., while deputies investigated the threat.

Suncoast News Network TV reports that the school let seven parents in at a time to pick up students starting at 11 a.m. Photos from outside the school showed dozens of parents waiting.

Meanwhile, the Bradenton Herald reports students at a different high school in Manatee County were under a "shelter in place" situation for part of today after police confirmed a threat to the school made via Snapchat.

The video was the third confirmed threat to Manatee High School since the mass shooting in Parkland a week ago today.

The Bradenton Herald reports a 14-year-old boy was charged Tuesday with making a false report concerning planting a bomb, an explosive or a weapon of mass destruction, or concerning the use of firearms in a violent manner -- that was after the Bradenton police found a note last Thursday threatening a shooting this Thursday at Manatee High School.

Bradenton police Lt. Brian Thiers says a surveillance video and subsequent interviews led them to the teen, who confessed. Thiers says the boy's motive is unknown at this time.

Police also found another note Tuesday threatening violence at the school at 10:05 a.m. today. Thiers says the threat, more generic than the arrested teen's, was also taken seriously.

Law enforcement officials in Manatee County also say a couple of 11-year-old girls were identified as the people making recent social media threats against Team Success Charter School. The sheriff's office tells the Herald-Tribune that charges are pending.

Earlier this morning, WGCU spoke with the Collier County Sheriff's Office after a concerning social media post sent parents and students into a panic.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office is still trying to identify the source of the post, which referred to Palmetto Ridge High School and Gulf Coast High School in Naples.

Officials say there was not a lockdown, but there was and has been enhanced law enforcement presence at all Collier Schools.

Two students in Collier County were taken into protective custody by the sheriff's office in separate incidents this week. The Collier County Sheriff's Office says in a news release the students made comments "that caused others to be concerned" for their well-being. A Palmetto Ridge High School student was taken into custody yesterday for statements made on a school bus, although nothing dangerous was reportedly found in the student's home.

And on Monday, a North Naples Middle School student was accused of making alarming statements in school, but again, nothing dangerous was found. The Sheriff's Office tells the Naples Daily News that both investigations are still active.

Some information within this report was provided by the Associated Press. 

Jessica Meszaros is a reporter and host of Morning Edition at WUSF Public Media, and former reporter and host of All Things Considered for WGCU News.
Rachel Iacovone is a reporter and associate producer of Gulf Coast Live for WGCU News. Rachel came to WGCU as an intern in 2016, during the presidential race. She went on to cover Florida Gulf Coast University students at President Donald Trump's inauguration on Capitol Hill and Southwest Floridians in attendance at the following day's Women's March on Washington.Rachel was first contacted by WGCU when she was managing editor of FGCU's student-run media group, Eagle News. She helped take Eagle News from a weekly newspaper to a daily online publication with TV and radio branches within two years, winning the 2016 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award for Best Use of Multimedia in a cross-platform series she led for National Coming Out Day. She also won the Mark of Excellence Award for Feature Writing for her five-month coverage of an FGCU student's transition from male to female.As a WGCU reporter, she produced the first radio story in WGCU's Curious Gulf Coast project, which answered the question: Does SWFL Have More Cases of Pediatric Cancer?Rachel graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
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