A 17-year-old Manatee High School student was arrested Tuesday after Bradenton police said he used another student’s account to send an electronic threat directed at the school.
The Bradenton Police Department was notified Monday evening, Aug. 31, of a threatening message that had been sent earlier in the day to a Manatee High School staff member. The message was sent through the MySDMC Focus app, the student information system used by the School District of Manatee County.
Officers with BPD’s Crime Reduction Team initially contacted the student whose MySDMC Focus account had been used to send the message. Investigators determined that another student had accessed the account and used it to send the threat.
On Tuesday morning, Sept. 1, detectives working with the School District of Manatee County developed additional information that identified 17-year-old Julian Watkins as the student suspected of accessing the account using the other student’s login credentials, according to police.
Watkins was detained at Manatee High School and questioned with parental permission before being arrested. He is charged with making a written or electronic threat to kill or cause bodily injury, which is a second-degree felony under Florida law.
Additional Bradenton police patrol officers were assigned to Manatee High School on Tuesday as a precaution. Those officers supplemented the BPD school resource officers and Manatee County Sheriff’s Office guardians already assigned to the campus.
Police emphasized that threats of school violence made through online posts, text messages or other statements are investigated as legitimate threats, even when someone claims the message was intended as a prank or joke.
The case also prompted authorities to remind families about online account security. Parents and guardians are encouraged to talk with students about protecting usernames, passwords and other personal information and not sharing login credentials with others.
Potential school threats can be reported through Florida’s FortifyFL reporting system. Anyone facing an immediate emergency should call 911.