According to WFLA, the incident occurred at Southwestern Middle School in Deland, where the student typed, “How to kill my friend in the middle of class,” on a school-issued computer.

Gaggle, a monitoring system used on school devices, flagged the message and alerted authorities. A school resource deputy received the alert and, along with other law enforcement officers, confronted the student.

Deputies told the outlet the boy claimed he was “just trolling” a friend who had annoyed him.

However, given the history of gun violence in U.S. schools, officials said they took the incident seriously.

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office later issued a warning to parents, urging them to talk to their children about responsible online behaviour.

“Please talk to your kids so they don't make the same mistake,” the statement read, according to UPI.

The US has witnessed several school shooting incidents in recent years, including the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 people were killed by an expelled former student Nikolas Cruz.