WINONA, Texas — **EDITOR'S NOTE: CBS19 has chosen not to identify the student or display his mugshot due to him being a minor.
An East Texas teen is behind bars after officials say he made credible threats of violence at a local high school.
According to the Smith County Sheriff's Office, on Wednesday, the FBI National Threat Operations Center (NTOC) received an anonymous tip concerning the threat of a school shooting at an unknown date and time in the Smith County area. This information was assigned to the FBI Tyler Division as well as investigators with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office. The investigation into this threat began that morning.
The SCSO says a Smith County investigator and two FBI agents responded to Winona High School where they met with school administrators. Through their initial investigation, they were able to identify the suspect as a 17-year-old sophomore student at Winona High School. Authorities say evidence was gathered, including documentation of credible threats of death and serious bodily injury to individual students at the high school.
Investigators prepared an arrest warrant affidavit and presented it to the Judge Austin Reeve Jackson. An arrest warrant for the criminal offense of terroristic threat was issued for the teen with a bond set at $1,000,000.
After obtaining the warrant, investigators and deputies responded to the teen's place of employment on Hwy 271 N. in Smith County.
The teen was immediately arrested and booked into the Smith County Jail where he remains at this time.
