FL sheriff lets students accused of threatening schools go

FLORIDA – A Florida sheriff is sending a message to parents — making national headlines — after several students were arrested and accused of making violent threats against schools.

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is making good on his promise to publicly prosecute students accused of making allegations about school shootings, saying all of the allegations are false.

This comes at a time when school shootings are a hotly debated issue across the United States, including in neighboring Georgia, where two teachers and two students were killed in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder this month.

The suspected shooter in Georgia was a 14-year-old boy who authorities say hid a rifle in his backpack before firing at the Barrow County school. Colt Gray, the suspected shooter, is charged with murder, as is his father, Colin Gray, who authorities say gave his son the gun used at the school.

In Florida, Chitwood is on a mission to stop threats to schools.

In a video shared on Facebook, he said authorities received 54 tips about school shooting threats in Volusia County in a single day on September 13, noting that those tips were classified as “false.”

He added that his office would release photos of the suspects and promised to both “treat them like a perpetrator” and “expose” them to the media. Photos of the suspects' parents would also be released “because you don't want to raise your child,” he said.

“I can't say it any more clearly,” he said in a video posted on Facebook. “You don't stand on a plane and scream 'hijack.' You don't go to a movie theater and scream 'fire,' and you don't go online and post that you're going to rob a school. You go to jail for that.”

Chitwood, a seemingly frustrated sheriff, said there have been 207 threats against schools in Volusia County this year. Seven people have been arrested and charged with “written death threats,” while another student was arrested after trying to bring a loaded gun to a school football game, he said.

In addition, 11 weapons were found on school grounds this year, Chitwood said.

“Parents, since you don't want to raise your children, I will start raising them,” he said during a press conference.

Daniel Mears, a professor of criminology at Florida State University who researches school shootings, told the Associated Press that Chitwood's actions contradict “the spirit of juvenile justice.”

“Juvenile criminal records were meant to be confidential for a reason,” Mears told the news channel. “The idea was that the kids would get a second chance at life.”

Mears acknowledged that exceptions are made for serious crimes, adding that school shootings are handled differently.

“School shootings just make people incredibly scared and worried,” he told the Associated Press.

Max Schachter, whose son was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, praised Chitwood for his actions.

“We had a culture of complacency that led to the Parkland school shooting. And we can no longer be complacent,” Schachter told the Associated Press. “We should prosecute the individuals who make these threats and become mass shooters to the fullest extent possible. And ultimately, we should hold their parents accountable.”

“I’m going to raid the school”

Just recently, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office announced on Wednesday that two students had been arrested on felony charges after threatening to carry out a school shooting on Snapchat.

Authorities accused the students, 17-year-old Trinity Mack and 16-year-old Brayden Severance, of threatening to carry out a shooting at Taylor Middle High School in Pierson as a joke.

A school employee responded after learning about the post. Authorities said Mack shared a photo on Snapchat using her school laptop, which can be seen in the image, and said, “I'm going to raid the school.”

Severance was accused of responding to the post with “Same.”

Both Mack and Severance were arrested and charged with making a written threat to carry out a mass shooting, authorities said. They were taken to the Volusia Family Resource Center for processing and then transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice for detention, authorities said.

The sheriff's office released mugshots and video of the students while in custody.

“Parents, do your job,” Chitwood says in the video. “Don't let Sheriff Chitwood raise your children. This is absolutely ridiculous.”

Authorities said the prank came immediately after Taylor staff warned students not to use threats as a prank. School officials said those threats could result in expulsion and arrest, authorities said.

Two days earlier, authorities said an 11-year-old Port Orange boy was arrested at Creekside Middle School after jokingly threatening to shoot at Creekside and Silver Sands Middle School.

Investigators became aware of the threat after Fortify Florida received a tip, authorities said. The boy was accused of saying he had “a written list of people he was supposedly going to kill.”

When the investigators searched the boy's room, they found several airsoft rifles, pistols and toy ammunition, knives, swords and other weapons, authorities said. Officials also found the written list, they said.

The student was charged with making a written threat to commit mass murder, authorities said. His case was processed at the Volusia Family Resource Center and then transferred to the juvenile justice system, authorities said.

A video released by the sheriff's office showed authorities arresting the boy, and the boy's mug shot was posted on the sheriff's office Facebook page.

Prior to these incidents, authorities said at least two other students had been arrested for posting threats to shoot at schools on Instagram and TikTok.

Chitwood said at least one of these pranks will cost the families about $11,000 each.