--- description: New England Patriots player Julian Edelman might have helped prevent a school shooting after a threat was made in a comment on his Instagram title: New England Patriots Player Julian Edelman Helped Stop a Potential School Shooting image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20d1e072c8b934ee/69892ce4db298713e025f4c2/julian-edelman-school-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New England Patriots Player Julian Edelman Helped Stop a Potential School Shooting  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 5, 2018 12:29 AM CUT  Wide receiver Julian Edelman #11 of the New England Patriots smiles as he walks toward the sideline prior to a preseason game on August 25, 2017. Wide receiver Julian Edelman #11 of the New England Patriots smiles as he walks toward the sideline prior to a preseason game on August 25, 2017.Nick Cammett—Diamond Images/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 5, 2018 12:29 AM CUT An observant social media user and New England Patriots player Julian Edelman might have [helped prevent a school shooting](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/sports/patriots-julian-edelman-shooting.html "undefined"), after a threat appeared in a comment on the wide receiver’s Instagram account last month. “I’m going to shoot my school up watch the news,” someone wrote in a comment on a [photo](https://www.instagram.com/p/BgwTcekhiUF/?hl=en&taken-by=edelman11 "undefined") posted by Edelman on March 25 — the day after hundreds of thousands of people [marched in Washington, D.C.](http://time.com/5213929/march-for-our-lives-live-updates/ "undefined") to call for an [end to gun violence](http://time.com/longform/never-again-movement/ "undefined") following a spate of [school shootings](http://time.com/5214011/march-for-our-lives-jaelynn-willey-maryland/ "undefined"). Edelman soon received a message from an Instagram user warning him about the threat. “Dude, there is a kid in your comment section says he s going to shoot up a school, i think you should alert the authority,” the message said, according to a screenshot [published by the New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/sports/patriots-julian-edelman-shooting.html "undefined"). Edelman said he thought of the 17 people who were killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “With the emotions of what happened, and I have a kid now, I said, holy Toledo, what is going on?” Edelman told the _Times,_ crediting the Instagram user who notified him of the threat. “Thankfully, this kid said something,” Edelman said. “We’re going to send him something, a care package, just for his work. He’s the real hero.” > [](https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/981676292121735168) Edelman’s assistant searched through his comments for the threat and called police, who then traced the comment to an address in Port Huron, Mich. When Port Huron police arrived at that address, they found a 14-year-old boy — who they said admitted to making the threat — and two rifles belonging to his mother, the _Times_ reported. The boy was taken to a juvenile-detention center and charged with making a false report of a threat of terrorism, the _Times_ reported. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5228683/patriots-julian-edelman-school-shooting-instagram/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5228683/patriots-julian-edelman-school-shooting-instagram/"},"headline":"New England Patriots Player Julian Edelman Helped Stop a Potential School Shooting","datePublished":"2018-04-05T00:29:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:52:42.424Z","description":"'I’m going to shoot my school up watch the news,' someone commented on his photo","url":"https://time.com/5228683/patriots-julian-edelman-school-shooting-instagram/","keywords":["Crime","Football","Massachusetts","patriots","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20d1e072c8b934ee/69892ce4db298713e025f4c2/julian-edelman-school-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20d1e072c8b934ee/69892ce4db298713e025f4c2/julian-edelman-school-shooting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New England Patriots v Detroit Lions","caption":"Patriots player Julian Edelman might have helped stop a school shooting","creditText":"Nick Cammett—Diamond Images/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5228683/patriots-julian-edelman-school-shooting-instagram/","name":"New England Patriots Player Julian Edelman Helped Stop a Potential School Shooting"}}]}] ```