Hialeah Man, 21, Arrested Over Instagram Post Threatening MDC Mass Shooting

An Instagram post reading “Everyone at MDC dies today” sent Hialeah police scrambling to Miami Dade College’s Hialeah campus, and by the end of the day officers had a 21-year-old man in custody. Jose Santos was arrested after investigators say he was identified as the owner of the Instagram account that posted the threat, and he now faces a felony charge of written threats.

According to WPLG Local 10, Hialeah Police Department officers responded to the campus at 1780 W. 49th St. on Monday after the threatening post surfaced online, warning of a mass act of terrorism at the school. Police said Santos was later located and arrested at a home on West 31st Street near First Avenue. He was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, the county’s primary intake facility for felony arrestees, according to the same report.

What Investigators Have — and Haven’t — Confirmed

The police report does not state whether Santos actually attends Miami Dade College, per the outlet’s reporting, leaving his connection to the campus unclear. Detectives also redacted a statement Santos allegedly made to them, so the exact wording of what he told police after his arrest has not been made public. Santos, described as a Hialeah man, had his bond still to be determined as of Monday.

Whatever Santos may or may not have said to detectives, the statute he’s charged under does not require prosecutors to prove he had the means or the actual intent to carry out an attack. Under Florida Statute § 836.10, transmitting an electronic threat to commit a mass shooting or act of terrorism is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and a $10,000 fine, according to state law. Legal analysis from Hussein & Webber notes that prosecutors must only prove Santos intended the message to be a “true threat” — not that he had the capability to follow through.

A Pattern of Threats Against South Florida Campuses

Santos’s arrest fits a pattern of felony charges brought against South Florida students and residents for digital threats against schools this year. In April, campus police at Florida International University arrested a 23-year-old student under the same statute after she allegedly posted written threats on WhatsApp threatening to kill or harm people during a scheduled campus event, as Hoodline previously reported. That student was likewise transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center following her arrest.

The MDC Hialeah campus itself has seen its share of security incidents this year. In March, police arrested a 23-year-old man in the campus parking garage after he allegedly brandished a firearm during a road-rage incident, which led officers to recover drugs and a handgun from his vehicle. In July, campus public safety responded to a separate incident after women reported spotting a hidden phone in a campus bathroom, resulting in another arrest.

Enforcement Extends Beyond Campus Grounds

The Instagram threat also arrives just days after Hialeah police arrested a 63-year-old man on felony charges for allegedly phoning in a fake bomb threat to a Salvation Army shelter on NW 38th Street, which triggered a building evacuation and a K9 search. Together, the cases point to what appears to be zero-tolerance enforcement in Hialeah when it comes to threats against institutions, whether delivered by phone or social media.

The threat against MDC also lands during a period of growth for the college system. As of August, Miami Dade College reported total credit enrollment 26% higher than in 2022, with its Hialeah campus posting a 0.8% increase in credit hours compared to the previous year. Across all eight MDC campuses, more than 75,000 students are enrolled, and students aged 18 to 21 make up over half of the undergraduate population — the same age bracket Santos falls into, though the report does not confirm he was ever a student there.

MDC’s Hialeah campus, located at 1780 W. 49th St., doubled its physical footprint in 2015 and today houses science laboratories, an art gallery, and degree programs ranging from university transfer tracks to technology certificates. The college maintains a dedicated Public Safety Department with a direct emergency line for the Hialeah campus that coordinates with municipal police during active investigations. It remains unclear what bond conditions will be set when Santos makes his first court appearance.