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Former student arrested after threatening to ‘shoot and blow up’ Akins H.S., officials say

A teen who allegedly threatened to 'shoot and blow up' Akins High School was arrested Thursday. As of Friday, he is not in custody.

A former student has been arrested and charged with terroristic threat after police said he made threats while on a school bus after arriving at Akins High School Thursday morning.

At around 8:45 a.m., school officials received information from students that a 17-year-old "non-student" was on a school bus and made a verbal threat.

The teen, identified by police Friday morning as Ariel Alexander Ramirez-Navarro, then allegedly went into Akins and made two more threats toward the school.

Police said he left the school after showing students some items in his "Gucci-style" backpack: "an ammunition clip. a box of ammunition and smoke grenade bombs."

Witnesses said when they asked Ramirez-Navarro what he planned to do with the items in his bag, he said, "I'm gonna shoot up and blow up the school."

Officials said that as of about two weeks ago, the suspect is no longer a student. Police confirmed that Ramirez-Navarro's enrollment status changed because of his lack of attendance.

At 9:25 a.m., the school went into reverse evacuation and Austin police responded.

A lockdown was then ordered at around 9:52 a.m. Ramirez-Navarro was found at Southpark Meadows at 10:25 a.m., where he was arrested and charged with terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, police said. As of Friday, Ramirez-Navarro is not in custody.

Police placing the suspect under arrest at Southpark Meadows after he allegedly threatened to "shoot and blow up" Akins High School.

Police said they recovered a loaded magazine, ammunition and smoke device from Ramirez-Navarro's bag.

After police conducted a full search of the campus, the lockdown was lifted at 1:45 p.m. No weapons were found, according to a school official with Austin Independent School District. There were no reports of injuries and students and staff are safe.

Officials are still investigating the incident and talking to witnesses. Specifically, officials said they are investigating how the former student was able to get on the school bus.

AISD Superintendent Dr. Paul Druz said at a press conference that the school requires visitors to enter through the front office and they require parents and students to not open doors. Cruz also said the school performs safety audits on a regular basis.

Parents started picking up their students at noon.

In a letter released to parents on Thursday, Principal Brandi Hosack stated:

As principal of this campus, we are always going to operate on the side of caution here at Akins. We take every threat seriously.

I am thankful to the student who alerted us to the threat, and for our amazing teachers and staff for their flexibility today.

This evening we will have a 6:30 p.m. meeting for families in the Akins High School auditorium. We welcome all families to join us tonight.

As an added precaution, there will be additional Austin ISD police officers on campus tomorrow, and extra counseling staff will be available to all students. Working together, we can make sure our campus is the safest it can be. As always, thank you for your support of Akins High School.

EDITOR'S NOTE: AISD officials initially told KVUE the lockdown had been lifted, but later told KVUE police were searching the campus before it was lifted.

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