Threat to Shoot Classmates Prompts Felony Charge for Student, 15

Date Added: April 19, 2018 9:38 am

Laura Williams
Office of Media Relations & Public Affairs

SILVER SANDS STUDENT, 15, CHARGED WITH THREAT TO SHOOT CLASSMATES

A Silver Sands Middle School student was charged with a felony Wednesday afternoon after he threatened to shoot others in class with a shotgun. The incident occurred Tuesday but a School Resource Deputy (SRD) only learned about the incident Wednesday after the same student was overheard saying Wednesday that he ran out of bullets. That’s why the students were still alive.

In the latest incident, the SRD was notified at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday that the 15-yr-old student had threatened to shoot fellow students after several reported the incident. The teen  is being charged with threatening to discharge a destructive device, (Florida Statute 790.162), a felony. 

The arrest for making a school threat was the second Wednesday at Silver Sands. Earlier in the day, an 11-year-old male student was overheard saying he was going to “bomb”  Silver Sands and his teacher after his seat was changed in class. The two students are the 25^th and 26^th charged by Volusia County sheriff’s deputies for making school threats since the Feb. 14 massacre in Parkland.

Despite repeated warnings by Sheriff Mike Chitwood and school officials, and pleas for parents to talk to their children about the seriousness of making such threats, students in Volusia County – and elsewhere – have continued to incite fear at school and on social media since the Parkland shootings.

The Sheriff’s Office has zero tolerance for anyone making these threats. In addition to facing serious criminal charges, students arrested for making these threats, or their families, will be held responsible for paying the cost of the law enforcement response and prosecution, estimated at  $1,032 per case.