Teen arrested after posting photos of airsoft guns, asking Siri for directions to school, officials said

Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY
·2 min read
2

An 18-year-old man was arrested in Florida after officials said he posted photos of himself with airsoft guns and a caption asking the Apple voice assistant Siri for “directions to the nearest school.”

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that it received a tip Sunday and found that Corey Anderson “posted images of himself with what appeared to be a handgun, a rifle, and a tactical style vest.”

“The photo was distributed with the caption ‘Hey Siri, directions to the nearest school,’” officials said in the news release. Detectives later determined that the weapons were airsoft guns, which can resemble firearms but shoot nonlethal pellets.

Anderson was arrested at a residence in Lutz, Florida, north of Tampa. He faces a felony charge for a “written or electronic threat to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism.”

He was released from jail Monday, according to online arrest records. Information for an attorney representing Anderson was not immediately available.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office declined to confirm to USA TODAY where the images were posted.

Nation: Fifth grader arrested after police say he sent a fake mass shooting threat in Florida

Live updates: Children's funerals begin in Uvalde

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister called the alleged threat “unacceptable.”

“This man intentionally instilled fear into our community as a sick joke, but be warned, this is no laughing matter,” Chronister said in the news release. “We will do everything within our power to apprehend, and pursue charges on those who make school-based threats.”

A fifth grader in Florida also was arrested after a false threat to commit a mass shooting, the Lee County Sheriff's Office said. The sheriff’s office learned of the message Saturday, and it was allegedly sent by a student at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral, Florida.

The arrests come after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Two of the children will be laid to rest Tuesday in the first of the funeral services in the grieving Texas community.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida teen arrested over photos of guns after Texas school shooting