Man who threated a mass shooting against a Missouri school district has been caught

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Jackson County prosecutors charged a Blue Springs man with one count of making a terror threat that caused nearly a dozen metro school districts to cancel summer school.

Blue Springs police arrested 19-year-old Treshawn Hardridge Wednesday morning.

Investigators said Hardridge made a terroristic threat of a mass shooting and posted his plans on social media. He also mentioned mental health in the post. Someone saw the video on Snapchat Tuesday and forwarded it to Blue Springs police. Police say the threat specifically mentioned killing people and the phrase “mass murdering.”

Police staked out three locations overnight before the teen surrendered peacefully to officers Wednesday morning at his home. The threat caused nine school districts to cancel summer school classes and other activities.

Charging documents show Blue Springs police asked the FBI for help in the investigation. The FBI used a cell phone number to ping the phone’s location and eventually locate Hardridge at a home southwest of U.S. Highway 40 and Southwest 19th Street. The document shows Hardridge walked out of the house around 8:30 Wednesday morning and surrendered to police.

When a Blue Springs detective interviewed Hardridge following his arrest, the probable cause statement shows Hardridge said he was trying to convey a message through the video and wanted to warn people not to mess with mental health issues.

Hardridge told the detective there were guns at his father’s house. Police found a Ruger 9mm handgun, an Anderson AM-15 and a Winchester Model 270 when they executed a search warrant.

The document also shows Hardridge told the detective he was being sarcastic in the video, that he is addicted to Percocet, and was supposed to go to rehab Wednesday morning.