MIAMI – Broward County Public Schools officials said Saturday they are aware of a social media post threatening several area schools and are working closely with local law enforcement to determine the credibility of the threat.

They said they are taking steps to identify those responsible.

“The safety of our schools, students and staff is our top priority,” officials said. 

School officials are urging parents to remind their children that, “Making a threat against our schools is a felony and carries lifelong consequences including arrest, expulsion and severe disciplinary measures.”

Late Thursday evening, Nicole Nearor, the principal of Coconut Creek High School, sent a message to parents saying they were aware of “a potential threat to our school of an image made via social media. We immediately worked with law enforcement to safely handle the situation. As a precautionary measure, there are extra police and security personnel on our campus.”

It is unclear who was behind the potential threat to the high school.  

Broward has the sixth largest school system in the country with over 250,000 students, 31,000 employees and more than 320 schools, centers, technical colleges and charter schools.  

MIAMI –  Stephanie Alonso died Friday, days after the 7-year-old girl was struck by a driver outside a pharmacy in Miami.

The incident happened on Monday when Stephanie and her mom were walking toward the main entrance of Navarro Pharmacy on Southwest 32nd Avenue and 22nd Street in Miami before 4 p.m. 

A Red Nissan SUV driven by an elderly woman struck the girl and sideswiped her mom.

“Instead of pressing the brakes, the 92-year-old accelerates, and we can see (through surveillance videos) that the vehicle accelerates and goes right toward them. It sideswipes the mother, hits the girl,” said Mike Vega, public information officer for Miami Police. “She was not pinned under the car; she was actually right next to the vehicle.” 

Stephanie was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition. 

Stephanie would have turned  8 on Sept. 21. 

Miami Police have not revealed the identity of the driver, except for her age. 

“We issued a ticket for careless driving, but we did not issue it to her yet because we have to wait on the outcome of the case,” Vega said.