Student Who Planned Shooting Arrested With Loaded Gun at Queens High School, Officials Say

A potential school shooting was thwarted at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Queens on Thursday after law enforcement, acting on a tip, arrested a student carrying a loaded, semi-automatic firearm, officials announced.

The incident prompted a rapid, coordinated response from both the NYPD and the FBI.

Following the alert, officers were dispatched immediately. “The NYPD quickly responded to the school and identified the student who posted the message,” NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch wrote. “Officers recovered a loaded, semi-automatic gun from his backpack.”

The initial tip was received by the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center, according to FBI Director Kash Patel
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“Earlier today, the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center received a tip regarding a potential school shooting at Benjamin Cardozo High School in New York City,” Patel said. “Based on a quick response by the NYPD and FBI personnel, a student was arrested with a loaded firearm. The FBI will continue to work tirelessly to protect our children.”

Tisch detailed the sequence of events in a statement. “Today, the NYPD thwarted a potential school shooting at a high school in Queens,” she wrote. “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.'”

Both agencies highlighted the successful inter-agency cooperation that led to the swift arrest.

A statement from the FBI’s New York field office noted, “This swift response demonstrates the importance of close partnerships and the critical need for information-sharing to ensure our city and students are protected against unnecessary acts of violence.”

Commissioner Tisch emphasized that the outcome, while stemming from a frightening threat, was a testament to established safety protocols.

“While this incident is terrifying, it is an example of the law enforcement apparatus at the federal and local levels doing everything right,” she stated. “It is literally the system, our protocols, our training, and our processes working as they should that stopped a potential tragedy.”
The identity of the student has not been released. Officials have not commented on a potential motive or the specific charges the student will face.