New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman and an observant social media user helped prevent a school shooting after a threat appeared in a comment on Edelman's Instagram account last month, according to an article published Wednesday by the New York Times.
Edelman was in Texas visiting former teammate Danny Amendola late last month when he received a direct message on his Instagram account.
"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 messenger wrote.
Edelman said he thought of the 17 people who were killed in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
"With the emotions of what happened, and I have a kid now, I said, 'Holy Toledo, what is going on?' " Edelman said in an interview with the Times.
He quickly notified his assistant in Boston, Shannen Moen, who looked through the hundreds of comments that followed Edelman's Instagram post March 25 -- the day after hundreds of thousands of people marched in Washington, D.C., to call for an end to gun violence.
"I'm going to shoot my school up watch the news," the comment read.
Moen called the police, who then traced the comment to an address in Port Huron, Mich. When Port Huron police arrived at the 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 Times also reported the boy was taken to a juvenile-detention center and was charged with making a false report of a threat of terrorism.
Edelman deflected any praise he received to the Instagram user who sent the private message.
"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."
Doc's diagnosis
Hours after the Philadelphia 76ers paid tribute to Basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving by unveiling a sculpture of him outside their practice facility, the two-time NBA MVP was heaping praise on current Sixer Ben Simmons.
Simmons, who has posted 11 triple-doubles in his first season, has caught the attention of many, and Erving took the praise to a new level prior to the Sixers' 121-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.
"Once-in-a-decade, maybe once-in-a-lifetime-type player," Erving said. "He's able to make everybody better immediately each and every time down the floor; guys are spotting up or looking to cut or keying off of triggers that come out of his handling skills."
Simmons had 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Nets, giving him 36 double-doubles on the season. He's averaging a triple-double over his past 12 games. Simmons and Oscar Robertson are the only players to have 600 rebounds and 600 assists in their rookie seasons.
"Sometimes it looks like he's got eyes in the back of his head," Erving said, "because he sees and feels one of his guys making a run to the hoop or spotting up at certain positions. That's just a gifted player that we are very fortunate to have on our team."
Simmons was taken aback when told of Erving's assessment of his rookie campaign.
"He pretty much built this team up, the name of the Sixers, based on the way he played," said Simmons, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's amazing [that Erving praised him]. Amazing to hear that."
Sports on 04/06/2018