JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters was joined by Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier to announce five recent arrests of students for threats made to schools, reminding parents and students that making such threats can have life-changing consequences.
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All three were arrested Tuesday. Waters said the threats were made electronically and gave the following details:
- On Aug. 22, an 11-year-old boy made a threat to River City Science Academy in a group chat thread. Waters said that the threat read, “Hello fellow citizens. Don’t worry, just don’t come to school tomorrow unless you want 15 pounds of lead added to you at an extremely fast rate.” He was arrested for a written threat to conduct a mass shooting, which is a second-degree felony.
- On Monday, Sept. 9, a 12-year-old boy made a threat to IDEA River Bluff Charter School through Instagram messages. In these messages, Waters said, the boy said he would shoot up the school. He was also arrested for a written threat to conduct a mass shooting. He is not a student at IDEA River Bluff but Ribault Middle School, the school said.
- On Tuesday, Sept. 10 13-year-old girl made a threat to IDEA Bassett Charter School, posting an Instagram Story on her account stating, “Don’t come to school tomorrow if you want to live.” She was arrested for sending a written threat to kill, also a second-degree felony. According to her arrest report, she was placed on a 10-day suspension.
IDEA Public Schools provided the following statement to Action News Jax:
“IDEA Public Schools in Jacksonville received two potential threats via social media. IDEA immediately conducted an investigation with local law enforcement and found the threats were not credible. At no time were students and staff in danger. While we are unable to share specifics regarding disciplinary actions, IDEA has a zero-tolerance policy regarding school safety threats and has taken actions in accordance with the law and school policy. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further. All questions should be directed to the appropriate law enforcement agency.”
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“This agency will not under any circumstances tolerate victimization of children, even if those committing these crimes are children themselves,” Waters said.
Bernier asked parents to partner with the school district, making sure to tell their children that there are certain things that should never be said or written or posted.
“A threat can never be dismissed as a joke or a prank, and we as a school district will pursue the strongest disciplinary consequences available to us,” Bernier said.
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Bernier said in addition to the three students arrested by JSO, Duval County School Police arrested two students accused of making threats to their school buildings.
One of the threats was toward Mandarin High School and one was against the Young Men’s and Women’s Leadership Academy at Eugene J. Butler.
Action News Jax received the following details of those arrests made by Duval County School Police:
- On Tuesday, Sept. 10, a 13-year-old boy made threats at the Young Men’s and Women’s Leadership Academy. According to a police report, there was a call for service for a bomb threat, another for an alleged individual with a firearm, and another for a student who had been stabbed with a pencil. It was determined these reports weren’t credible. Investigators determined that the child made the threats over the phone inside the school. He was arrested for two counts of making a false report concerning any act of violence, one count of unlawful use of a two-way communication device, three counts of making false 911 calls, and one count of interference with school function.
- On Tuesday, Sept. 10, a 16-year-old boy made threats to Mandarin High School. According to a police report, a verbal threat to kill was made by the student. He claimed he was singing a rap song, but the lyrics didn’t match what he said. He said, “Well maybe I said it, maybe I didn’t,” according to the report. He was taken into custody and did not cooperate. Two witnesses made statements, saying they heard him say he would shoot 20 people. The teen was arrested for one count of making threats of harm to a person/property. The report said he also has been arrested for previous threats, criminal mischief, and drug possession.
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