BY PORTSIA SMITH

A 17-year-old male has been charged with bringing a weapon onto school property in Spotsylvania County.

According to Capt. Mike Harvey of the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to Saint Michael the Archangel High School Wednesday after 5 p.m. for reports of someone threatening to bring a weapon to the private Catholic school off State Route 3.

The threats were made, Harvey said, after a group of boys got ahold of a female student's cellphone while she was attending an after-school event. Harvey said the boys started sending text messages to the girl's boyfriend that were making fun of him.

The boyfriend responded by sending threatening text messages to the boys and the girlfriend indicating that he was going to come to the school with a weapon, Harvey said.

The teen did arrive at the school with a knife, but was met with deputies who had already been called to the school about the threatening messages, Harvey said.

The knife was thrown in a trash can before the teen got to the school building, he said. No one was hurt.

After an investigation, the boyfriend was charged with bringing a weapon on school property.

His name is not being released because he is a juvenile, but Harvey said he is not a student at the high school.

Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
Email: psmith@fredericksburg.com