NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City high school student was arrested Thursday after bringing a loaded gun to class and writing on social media that he wanted to “shoot the school up,” authorities said.
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The 16-year-old sophomore posted the threat to Instagram around 10:15 a.m. while in class at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. A person who saw the post alerted the FBI, which then contacted the NYPD, Tisch said.
Officers went to the school, located the student and found a 9mm handgun in his backpack that was loaded with 13 rounds of ammunition, Tisch said. Unlike some other New York City public schools, Cardozo High School does not screen students for weapons, she said.
“We are so grateful that this incident did not end tragically,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference announcing the arrest.
Today, the NYPD thwarted a potential school shooting at a high school in Queens.
Our partners at the @FBI alerted us to a social media post from a student who stated that they were about to "shoot the school up."
The NYPD quickly responded to the school and identified the… pic.twitter.com/rbXFd8omz4
— Jessica S. Tisch (@NYPDPC) September 18, 2025
Police did not publicly identify the 16-year-old by name because he is a minor, Tisch said, adding that he had no prior criminal history. A message seeking information about the charges he faces was left for the Queens district attorney’s office.
According to Tisch, the threatening post showed what appeared to be school work on a desk, and the caption included a slang term for anger or frustration and read, in part: “vow to shoot the school up.” Location data showed that it was posted from the school, she said.
Police officers worked with school staff to locate the 16-year-old, removed him from his classroom without incident and took him to an empty conference room where they searched his backpack and found the gun, Tisch said. The boy also had three cell phones on him, she said, one in a school-issued locking pouch and two others.
Officers confirmed that the Instagram post came from the 16-year-old’s account by calling a phone number associated with it, Tisch said. When officers called the number, the commissioner said, one of the boy’s cellphones rang.
Adams, a former police captain, lamented the easy availability of guns, even as he touted the NYPD’s success in making gun-related arrests and driving shootings, murders and other crime lower.
“This was a failure of a society that allowed a 16-year-old to get so close to shooting up a school and potentially killing classmates and teachers,” Adams said. The boy, he said, “either would have ended up dead or in jail for many years” had he followed through on the threat.
Tisch said the swift law enforcement response and collaboration between the FBI, which received the tip, and the NYPD, which acted on it, was an example of the system working to prevent mayhem.
“I will be honest, as a mother of two young, school age boys, I am shaken,” Tisch said. “But, as your police commissioner, I am resolute in ensuring that the NYPD does everything in our power to keep our children safe.”
Where did he get the gun? Where were his parents in all this?
I thought public school have medal detectors terrible
“The boy, he said, “either would have ended up dead or in jail for many years” had he followed through on the threat.” All he cares about is the boy?? What about potential victims?
Yeah, but this student did not get a medal
I thought cell phones are not allowed in school
I’m surprised that they took the boy into custody. I thought that modern psychology teaches that we have to allow people, particularly children, to express and act out on their feelings or they’ll fester inside leading to emotional problems.
At one time, Bayside, Queens, had a large Jewish population.
Another Trans kid with a mental problem( puberty blockers)
Potential mass murderer was referred in this very article as a “they”
& they want us to teach our children Math, Science & English so they will also try to shoot up schools?
Never!!!
Better our children be viewed by the outside world as illiterate, uneducated & ignorant fools than teach them multiplication resulting in shootings.