Patriots star may have stopped school shooting with his swift action
New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman accomplished nothing of note for his team in 2017 after he tore his ACL in the preseason and subsequently missed the whole year.
Edelman’s on-field contributions were a non-factor.
But his off-field contributions? Edelman may have done far more good than anything he could’ve ever hoped to accomplish on a football field last season, according to a report Wednesday in The New York Times.
That’s because just weeks after the tragic school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Edelman took swift action to possibly prevent another senseless school shooting.
According to The Times, Edelman was in Texas visiting former Patriots teammate and current Miami Dolphins receiver Danny Amendola in late March.
It was during that time in Texas that he received an ominous direct message via Instagram.
“Dude, there is a kid in your comment section [that] says [he is] going to shoot up a school, [I] think you should alert the [authorities],” an Instagram user messaged Edelman.
“With the emotions of what happened [at Marjory Stoneman Douglas], and I have a kid now, I said, ‘Holy Toledo, what is going on?'” Edelman recounted in an interview.
Fortunately for any potential victims, Edelman acted in a swift manner instead of with blasé passivity. His response echoed some of the sentiments that President Donald Trump tweeted about shortly after the Florida shooting happened.
So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2018
Edelman instantly alerted his assistant back in Boston, Shannen Moen. It didn’t take long for Moen to find the disturbing message.
“I’m going to shoot my school up watch the news,” the message bluntly stated.
From there, Moen helped spark an interstate police search for the potential shooter. A story that started in Texas and went to Boston eventually ended in Michigan, where authorities tracked down the message poster.
In Port Huron, Michigan, police interviewed a 14-year-old boy, who chillingly admitted he posted the threat. Police also found two rifles registered to his mother.
According to Capt. Joseph Platzer of the Port Huron Police Department, the child was targeting the middle school he attended.
The boy was eventually taken to a juvenile detention facility, and he could face up to four years in prison for making a false report of a threat of terrorism.
Edelman told The Times he wanted to thank the person who sent him the direct message about the threat.
“Thankfully, this kid said something,” he said. “We’re going to send him something, a care package, just for his work. He’s the real hero.”
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