Published: April 16, 2026 at 1:03 PM

A 23-year-old Florida International University student’s recent messages on a WhatsApp group resulted in a criminal case, according to police.

Gabriela Saldana was at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Thursday after corrections booked her on Wednesday afternoon.

Saldana “made a threat to kill or do bodily harm” in her posts on Friday and Wednesday about “a scheduled event” in a WhatsApp group chat, according to a police officer’s arrest report.

Saldana “admitted to sending and transmitting the messages,” and FIU campus police officers arrested her shortly after 2:10 a.m. on Thursday on campus at 885 SW 109 Ave., records show.

Police officers did not include the specific threats in their report about the alleged crime. FIU released a statement saying the threat of violence at a planned university event was credible.”

“Given the ongoing investigation and federal student privacy laws, FIU has no further comment,” a spokesperson for FIU wrote. “There is no further threat to the university community.”

Miami-Dade corrections booked Saldana shortly after 4:15 a.m. on Thursday. She faced a charge of written threats to kill or do bodily injury.

Local 10 News Assignment Editor Carson Merlo contributed to this report.

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.

Andrea TorresAndrea Torres

The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.