Tom Steele
The Dallas Morning News
FORT WORTH, Texas — A Central Texas teenager was arrested Wednesday after an off-duty Fort Worth officer reported hearing the teen threaten to shoot up his former high school while playing a video game.
Devant Y’Shaun Davis-Brooks, 17, was also accused five months ago of planning a shooting at the same school.
Police in Taylor, about 25 miles northeast of Austin, received a tip about the threat early Wednesday. The Fort Worth officer, who was playing a video game online after a night shift, reportedly heard Davis-Brooks say that he planned “to shoot up Taylor High School tomorrow,” KVUE-TV reported.
Officers arrested Davis-Brooks a short time later at his home on one count of making a terroristic threat, a third-degree felony. He remains in the Williamson County jail, with bail set at $25,000.
Taylor police Commander Joseph Branson told KRLD-AM (1080) that the source of the tip gave it some extra credibility.
“We do want to express our sincere thanks to the entire Fort Worth Police Department, and this officer in particular,” Branson told the radio station.
The officer has not been identified.
Taylor ISD said in a statement that Davis-Brooks no longer attends the school and that there was never any danger to students or staff.
“We take any threat to our students and staff seriously and will work closely with local law enforcement to investigate and take appropriate actions,” the district said.
In late August, Davis-Brooks and two other 17-year-olds — Emmanuel Pina-Tejas and Kadin Carter Watson — were charged with making a terrorist threat after other Taylor High students reportedly overheard them making plans for a coordinated attack at the school involving guns and explosives.
Those cases all are pending.
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