Historically, threats of school violence surge following high-profile shootings. For instance, in the two weeks following the 2018 Marjory Stoneman High School shooting, the Educator’s School Safety Network determined there were at least 638 threats made against schools. However, the number of school violence threats and subsequent arrests made in less than a month since the Apalachee High School shooting is unprecedented.
Since Sept. 4, the day two students and two teachers were killed at Apalachee High, more than 700 children and teens have been arrested for allegedly making violent threats against schools in at least 45 states, according to the New York Times’ analysis of news reports, law enforcement statements, and court records.
The analysis also determined that 10% of the alleged threats were made by kids 12 years or younger. In Middletown, Ohio, a 10-year-old boy was arrested for sending a Snapchat message from his mother’s phone, telling his friends there would be a shooting at several local schools. The boy was held in detention for 10 days and was charged with inducing panic.
Volusia Sheriff Perp-Walks More Students Accused of Making Threats
In an attempt to curb the increase in threats, some law enforcement agencies are releasing the names and images of children and teens accused of making them. Several weeks ago, in Florida, Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood began the controversial practice of posting videos of handcuffed students being led into detention areas.
“Parents, if you don’t wanna raise your kids, I’m gonna start raising them,” Chitwood said in a Sept. 13 news conference. “Every time we make an arrest, your kid’s photo is going to be put out there and if I could do it, I’m going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kid’s up to.”
The latest students to be “perp-walked” in Volusia are 11 and 13, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports. The 11-year-old boy was arrested on Sept. 25 and charged with making a written threat of a mass shooting. The boy allegedly sent threatening texts to classmates with “the sole purpose of having them fear for their safety.”
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“This kid thought it would be a great joke to scare his classmates,” Chitwood wrote on social media. “Feeding off their fears…threatened the other kids in a group chat and told them they were on a kill list. This behavior is unacceptable and the consequences will not be a laughing matter.”
The 13-year-old boy was arrested Sept. 27 after the Sheriff’s Office received a tip about an online threat allegedly made from his PlayStation. The boy was charged with written threats to kill.
“While the rest of us were making hurricane preparations, this kid was making school threats on his Playstation,” Chitwood wrote. “These threats are not a laughing matter. Each one is taken seriously, and the consequences are serious.”
2 Dozen Polk County Students Arrested
Volusia isn’t the only Florida county cracking down on threats. During a Sept. 19 news conference, Polk County School District Superintendent Fred Heid said the Polk County Sheriff’s Office had arrested 24 of its students in the first 28 days of the academic year, according to Fox News. In comparison, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said 42 students were arrested for making threats during the entire 2023-2024 school year.
“Students will be arrested. They will be charged with a second-degree felony,” Heid said. “And from the school district’s perspective, we will pursue the fullest extent of the consequences for any student or any non-student member of our community who phones these in or posts something online or social media or email.”
Heid also said the district will seek restitution for any time and resources spent investigating the threats.
7 Houston ISD Students Arrested for School Violence Threats
Since the Apalachee shooting, at least seven students within the Houston Independent School District have been arrested, according to Houston Public Media. The district said many of the students have been charged with felonies. Most recently, Bellaire High School went into lockdown after a student allegedly made a bomb threat. Multiple unidentified weapons were also confiscated from Bellaire High School back in August.
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“Parents and caregivers, please talk to your children about the seriousness of engaging in this dangerous behavior,” Houston ISD said in a statement. “The safety and well-being of our students and staff is our top priority. Together we will keep our community safe.”
In a Sept. 23 press conference, the FBI Houston field division said it received at least 30 school threats in August, the most in any month in the past three years. Christopher Soyez, assistant special agent in charge at FBI Houston, said they investigate every threat they receive. He encourages students to screenshot any threats they come across on social media and to show it to the police or administration.
Northern California Students Arrested for School Violence Threats
By Sept. 17, less than two weeks after the Apalachee shooting, at least eight students had been arrested in various Northern California towns and cities, including Sacramento, Stanislaus County, Modesto, Manteca, Lodi, and Galt, according to Fox 40.
In Sacramento, police arrested a 14-year-old girl for allegedly making criminal threats against McClatchy High School. In Stockton, police arrested a 15-year-old boy from the Lodi Unified School District for allegedly making a threatening video against a local elementary school.
In Galt, a 15-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly making online threats against several area high schools. He was booked into the Sacramento County Juvenile Hall on felony charges.
Why Are Students Making More School Shooting Threats?
While threats of school violence typically increase following school shootings, what makes this time different?
“I think it’s really hard to know … one of the reasons why children and teenagers are more likely to engage in this behavior is because there’s a lot of accessibility and fairly easy anonymity,” Karin Price, Chief of Psychology at Texas Children’s Hospital, told Houston Public Media. “But I do know – I think we all know – that kids feel less safe now than they did maybe ten years ago, and I do think it could be a factor [in the threats].”
Price also said young people who feel powerless or voiceless might use these threats to “gain their sense of power back,” noting that these threats, especially those that are anonymous, might be seen as a way to inflict damage on a school system while keeping themselves safe from retaliation.
“I think, unfortunately, many of our students believe that social media is an appropriate place for them to try to garner attention,” Superintendent Heid said during his Sept. 19 news conference. “As the sheriff put it, we investigate and we complete more threat assessments than several others do because we do not diminish the expectation.”
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Judd echoed Heid’s comment, noting some kids make threats as part of social media challenges.
“We end up with these TikTok challenges; well we’ll TikTok you to jail if you follow those challenges. That’s the bottom line to it,” he said. “The overwhelming majority of the kids go, ‘Well that’s nuts, and I’m not going to do it.’ But a few of the kids say, ‘I’m nuts, and I’m gonna to do it,’ and then, we’re going to arrest them.”
Although threats of violence have increased, Aaron Kupchik, professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, told Houston Public Media that he is skeptical of reports that say crime is increasing. Kupchik pointed to the Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety, noting neither fatal nor nonfatal victimization for students aged 12-18 appears to be rising.
“Schools today across the country are so much safer than they were a generation or two ago, and you totally wouldn’t know that, would you?” he said. “It’s not the case that schools are becoming these battlegrounds that students are so likely to get killed in… often it’s just a perception.”
Regardless, most law enforcement entities will investigate each threat they receive, whether or not they believe it to be credible. False threats divert precious resources and are extremely costly. Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI Houston division, said whether a threat is a hoax or not, there are significant consequences.
“When an investigation concludes there was a false or hoax threat made to a school or another public place, a federal charge could be considered, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison,” he said. “If a federal charge is not warranted, state charges can be considered.”
