photo credit: Brad Sauter // Shutterstock

Greenville Police have arrested and charged a Winterville man after he allegedly texted threats about a school shooting to a local student on Thursday.

Investigators say 28-year-old Mario Lavone Smith, of Winterville, has been charged with Felony Making a False Report of Mass Violence on Educational Property and is being held in the Pitt County Correctional Center.

On Thursday morning, Greenville Police received a tip that Smith had texted a South Central High School student, who he knew, about committing a shooting at the school.

The student reported the text to Winterville Police, who shared the information with Greenville Police.

Officers immediately tracked the source of the texts and arrested Smith before school started Thursday morning.

Detectives say, after they interviewed Smith, they did not believe there was any credible, ongoing threat to the school. However, additional officers were assigned to patrol all local high schools on Thursday as a precaution.

Source: WNCT