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(CNN) — Two teenagers were arrested in Houston on suspicion of plotting an attack at a local school, the FBI Houston office said in a post on X Wednesday, the second potential mass attack thwarted by the FBI in the past week.
The FBI said they received information on the situation Tuesday and worked with Houston Police and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office to “identify and arrest” the underage teens.
The case involved “online threats made by two students,” which suggested “their intent was to carry out acts of violence at a school” in the Spring Branch Independent School District, according to a news release from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
One student from outside the district was taken into custody on unrelated charges, and another student in the district was taken into custody in Harris County, the sheriff’s office said.
The two students were girls aged 15 and 16 and were in the early stages of planning an attack that involved pipe bombs and guns, according to CNN affiliate KPRC. Law enforcement arrested the students within 30 minutes of learning about the plot, KPRC reported.
The arrest underscores the rise of anonymous reporting systems, or ARSs, which are used by more than 50% of K-12 schools in the US, according to a 2024 study published in Pediatrics. The study found that over four academic years, about 18,000 tips were reported, and 9.8% of those referenced one or more firearm-related terms.
“Youth use ARS to submit firearm-related tips on a variety of threats, the most common being a potential school shooting,” the study found.
CNN has reached out to the school district and its police department for comment.
“We are treating this matter with the utmost urgency and commitment, as threats of violence in our schools will not be tolerated,” the sheriff’s office said.
“The safety and security of our schools and community remain our highest priority. We understand the concerns this situation may cause for students, parents, and faculty, and we are taking every necessary precaution.”
The sheriff’s office said additional security has been added and they will continue to work with the district and law enforcement partners.
“This situation is why FBI Houston exists: to protect our community & assist our partners,” FBI Houston said in a post on X. “We received troubling information, conducted a rapid investigation, shared findings with (law enforcement) partners, & ultimately saved lives.”
The arrests come about a week after authorities charged an Indiana teen with plotting a Valentine’s Day massacre at their high school.
In that case, an unknown person contacted the Sandy Hook tip line to say a friend had access to an AR-15 rifle, had just ordered a bulletproof vest and admired Nikolas Cruz – the gunman who murdered 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, officials said.
The tip included messages the 18-year-old suspect appears to have sent on the messaging app Discord describing plans for the shooting, according to an affidavit.
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