A 12-year-old Crews Lake Middle School student is facing two felony charges after Pasco Sheriff’s deputies say the student posted a written threat to kill on social media, part of a viral trend that has swept schools across the country. The threat did not occur on campus, and investigators say there was no immediate threat to campus safety or the broader public.
According to the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the student was charged with making written threats to kill and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. The sheriff’s office said the threat occurred on social media and originated from the global online trend known as “the Cat in the Hat,” which has spread across multiple states in recent weeks. Deputies emphasized that they take all reported threats seriously and investigate each one, regardless of where it originates.
The “Cat in the Hat” trend began as a dark TikTok meme built around AI-generated images of the Dr. Seuss character before mutating in late August into viral posts naming specific schools, students, and fake target lists, according to WBOC. School districts and law enforcement agencies in Kentucky, Oklahoma, Maryland, and Tennessee have all opened investigations tied to the same meme in recent weeks, the outlet reports.
Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested a 12-year-old student from Crews Lake Middle School for making written threats to kill and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. The threat occurred on social media and did not occur on campus; the threat originated from a global… pic.twitter.com/aB1oT4myDc
— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) September 1, 2026
A Nationwide Wave of Arrests
Pasco County is not alone in filing criminal charges over the trend. On August 31, law enforcement in Colorado arrested a 14-year-old high school student for allegedly posting viral Cat in the Hat threats online, according to WANE. Hoodline previously reported that a Snapchat threat tied to the trend forced a lockdown at another school just a day earlier.
Under Florida Statute 836.10, making written or electronic threats to kill or do bodily harm is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, 15 years of probation, and a $10,000 fine, per the Florida Senate. Prosecutors charging under that statute no longer need to prove a threat was sent directly to a target, but must establish that the sender intended the communication to be understood as a true threat, attorney Richard Hornsby has explained.
The second charge against the Crews Lake student, unlawful use of a two-way communication device, falls under Florida Statute 934.215, which makes it a third-degree felony to use a smartphone or computer to further a felony offense, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to the Florida Senate.
Pasco’s Pattern of Zero Tolerance
This is not the first time Pasco County has pursued felony charges against a student over online threats. In September 2024, the sheriff’s office arrested a student for posting social media threats targeting Wiregrass Ranch High School, filing the same combination of written-threats and communication-device charges. Crews Lake Middle School has its own history with threat investigations: in April 2023, deputies arrested a 13-year-old student there after a hoax phone threat to an out-of-state crisis line triggered controlled campus lockdowns across several local schools. A Crews Lake student was also charged with making a false bomb threat back in January 2018.
Earlier this year, the sheriff’s office placed three West Pasco campuses on controlled campus status while investigating an off-campus threat before determining there was no ongoing danger to students, a pattern Hoodline has tracked through incidents including a bomb hoax sweep at River Ridge High and a separate bogus gun tip that triggered a lockdown scare at the same campus.
Sheriff’s Office Response and Warnings
The sheriff’s office reiterated that it investigates all reported threats and urged parents and guardians to talk with their children about the consequences of making threats, whether serious or intended as a joke. Deputies also reminded parents, guardians, and students to report suspicious activity quickly. Officials confirmed there was no public safety threat and no immediate danger to Crews Lake Middle School students as a result of the arrest.
It remains an open question how juvenile justice courts will weigh felony charges against middle schoolers swept up in the viral trend, but Pasco County’s track record suggests deputies plan to keep treating online threats, hoax or not, as serious criminal matters.
