A sheriff in Florida is not messing around after a local middle schooler was arrested for making online threats of committing a mass shooting—despite the boy’s claims that it was just a joke.
Mike Chitwood, the sheriff of Volusia County, said in a press conference on Friday September 13 that he was planning to “start raising” other people’s kids who engage in banter about school shootings in a joking manner, without fully understanding the gravity of such rhetoric.
As part of his efforts, Chitwood released the mugshot of an 11-year-old boy who has been charged with a felony for making a mass shooting threat in writing. The sheriff warned that this would become routine procedure for his agency after the 11-year-old was arrested alongside two teenagers who were connected to the threat.
In his well-documented news conference and serious message issued towards the community, Chitwood warned that he would “start raising” kids since parents “don’t want to.” He added that he would begin “perp walk[ing]” these children to the community so “everybody” is able to know “what your kid’s up to.”
The arrest of the Creekside Middle School student was announced on Monday September 16, including the detail that the boy had a “written list” of individuals he reportedly “would kill.” The student is from Port Orange, Florida, and allegedly showed friends “several weapons” in a video call.
He reportedly threatened to shoot up either his own school or the nearby Silver Sands Middle School. An anonymous tip was submitted through a network that allows police to be alerted to suspicious behavior within the school system. In a video released by the authorities, the boy is shown in handcuffs while being escorted into jail. He was then cuffed at the ankles and instructed to wait for paperwork. He said “no, sir,” when asked if he had questions.
According to information given to police, the boy said the matter was just a joke. But Chitwood is in no way entertaining that idea. He said on Friday that even though “these little knuckleheads” believe it was funny, he said they should “talk to those parents” whose children have been killed in school shootings. He emphasized that “it’s not” a joke, no matter how much the perpetrators of such threats claim it is.
