New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman helped pursue the source of a threatening social media post, potentially helping to foil a planned school shooting in Michigan.
Edelman was notified via direct message on Instagram that a disturbing comment was left on his page. "Dude, there is a kid in your comment section says he s going to shoot up a school, i think you should alert the authority," the message said.
Edelman, who was in Texas at the time, contacted his assistant, Shannon Moen, who looked for the comment, found it, and took a screenshot, the New York Times reports.
"I’m going to shoot my school up watch the news," the message said.
Moen, who was then in Boston, contacted the police who sent officers to Moen's house to see the screenshot of the threatening comment.
Officers were able to trace the comment back to a 14-year-old boy in Port Huron, Michigan. Officers in Michigan contacted the boy, who then admitted posting the threat. Police also found two rifles that belong to his mother.
The Port Huron Police Department said the boy was directing his threat toward his middle school. He was taken into custody and has been charged with making a false report of a threat of terrorism, a felony that can result in four years in prison.
"With the emotions of what happened, and I have a kid now, I said, holy Toledo, what is going on?" Edelman said in reference to the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
"When I told Julian, he was in shock," Moen said. "We’re very lucky the Boston cops were all over it, very lucky the Michigan cops were all over it."
Moen has reached out to the sender of the direct message who gave the warning about Edelman; however, she has not received any response back.