Midlothian Police identify juvenile suspect in terroristic threat incident

MIDLOTHIAN – Midlothian Police were dispatched to a call involving threats made via text messages to a local juvenile on Feb. 25. 

The texts were part of a group chat received by several Walnut Grove Middle School students. 

The person who reported the crime said the child had received text messages from an unknown number and was alarmed.

The Midlothian PD Facebook page reported, “One of the texts indicated the sender planned to “shoot up the school.” 

Initially, officers were unable to determine the source of the texts as the number traced back to a burner-application that provides “spoof” phone numbers. Officers continued to investigate through the evening resulting in the discovery of a potential source of the messages. 

Monday morning, additional officers were sent to the Walnut Grove campus, and both patrol officers and investigators worked with officers from the Midlothian PD School Resource Unit to continue the investigation. 

Officers were able to determine the source of the threatening messages, identifying the suspect as a 12-year-old student at Walnut Grove Middle School. 

The suspect, a juvenile, is being charged with terroristic threat, a 3rd degree felony, and has been detained at the Ellis County Juvenile Detention Center in Waxahachie.

The investigation is ongoing.

However, Midlothian Police said they have “no reason to believe these threats were valid. There is no indication the threat made to the school was credible.”