Winona student indicted for alleged school shooting threat

TYLER – A Winona high school student who allegedly threatened a school shooting has been indicted by a Smith County grand jury. 17-year-old Tyler Tate was arrested in December on a charge of a terroristic threat after the FBI National Threat Operations Center received a tip about a possible shooting threat in Smith County. According to our news partner KETK, Tate was arrested after a joint operation by the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI’s Tyler division. He is still being held in the Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond.

The charge of terroristic threat can range from a Class B misdemeanor or all the way up to a third-degree felony under Texas law. Tate was indicted under the third-degree felony statute because prosecutors allege that he placed “a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury,” according to the Texas Penal Code. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.