Days after posting a mugshot of a boy accused of threatening school, the sheriff posts a video of two teenagers

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Across the country, communities are being hit by a wave of school shooting threats, prompting 911 calls, urgent group chats and growing fear among parents that their child's school could be the next Parkland or Sandy Hook or Uvalde — or any other city hit by mass shootings.

On Florida's Atlantic coast, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he received some of these notices after dropping his grandchildren off at school this week.

“It just stuck with me because my phone kept ringing telling me about the other threats. I thought to myself how many parents in this country have done exactly what I just did,” Chitwood said, “and they will never, ever, ever be able to hug their loved ones again.”

Chitwood was fed up with threats of school shootings in his community and promised to make public the identities of students accused of making such threats.

On Monday, he released the name and mugshot of an 11-year-old boy arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot up a middle school in his district. The decision quickly drew praise and criticism amid the ongoing national debate about what needs to be done to curb the gun violence plaguing the country. On Wednesday evening, he posted another video online showing two more young people, identified as 16 and 17-year-olds, in handcuffs being led to jail for making another threat against a school.

The first video posted online by Chitwood showed what an arrest report described as “various airsoft rifles and pistols, magazines, fake ammunition … and several knives and swords” that investigators said the 11-year-old boy had collected. It later cuts to a police officer leading the handcuffed boy out of a patrol car before locking him in an empty cell. The boy's face is frequently seen in the video, which has already received hundreds of thousands of views on social media.

On Wednesday, Chitwood went at it again, posting a message online: “Two more students in custody after school shooting threat,” adding of the teenagers: “We will introduce you to these two shortly.”

Hours later, the sheriff posted a Facebook video showing two teenagers being led out of a police car in handcuffs and into separate, empty cells. In the post, he can be heard saying, “Go talk to the families who lost a loved one in a school shooting. These little fools think this is funny? Talk to these parents and see how funny this is.”

AP does not identify people under the age of 18 who are accused of a crime or transmit images that would reveal their identity.

Chitwood told the Associated Press this week that he didn't know whether publicly shaming accused youths was effective, but he had to act to reach the students and their parents.

Since the start of the school year a few weeks ago, his office in Volusia County has reported more than 280 threats against schools, Chitwood said. In the entire last year, however, there were only 352.

“Something has to be done,” Chitwood said. “Where are the parents?”

Under Florida law, juvenile court records are generally confidential and may not be made publicly available unless, as in this case, the child is accused of a crime.

Chitwood is known as someone who likes to speak tough and is convinced that it is his right to identify such young people.

“I'm not worried about the 2% that might get handcuffed and someone might get mad at them,” Chitwood said. “I'm worried about the other 98% that are trying to go to school and live a normal life without having to worry about getting an education.”

Daniel Mears, a professor of criminology at Florida State University who researches school shootings, said the sheriff's actions contradict the spirit of juvenile justice.

“Juvenile criminal records were meant to be confidential for a reason. The idea was to give the kids a second chance at life,” Mears said.

Still, Mears said there have long been exceptions for particularly serious crimes, and pointed out that threats are handled differently in schools.

“School shootings just make people incredibly scared and worried,” he said.

Among those who welcome the sheriff's actions is Max Schachter, whose son Alex was murdered along with 16 others in a mass murder at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018.

“We had a culture of complacency that led to the Parkland school shooting. And we can no longer be complacent,” Schachter told AP. “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.”

Chitwood said he is investigating whether parents of children who make threats can be held financially or criminally responsible.

The first parents to be convicted in connection with a US school shooting – Jennifer and James Crumbley – were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison in April. A judge in Michigan lamented missed opportunities that could have prevented their teenage son Ethan from possessing a gun and killing four students in 2021. The parents were convicted of manslaughter earlier this year.

In Winder, Georgia, prosecutors have filed charges against the father of a 14-year-old boy accused of killing two students and two teachers in a shooting spree at a high school.

Keri Rodrigues, president of the educational organization National Parents Union, said what is needed is gun control – and adequate psychological support for children in crisis situations. Surveys show that American youth are in an unprecedented mental health crisis.

“I think all over the country, parents are struggling with what to do with their children,” Rodrigues said. “It's so difficult because we don't have enough social workers. We don't have enough school psychiatrists.”

Kathleen Miksits is the mother of two middle school students in Volusia County. She believes students and parents need to understand the impact these threats have on their community. Miksits kept her children home for a day this week after students at her school were targeted in a threat.

Still, she finds it hard to accept that this eleven-year-old boy may never get over it.

“Children say things they don't mean. Or they don't understand what they're saying,” she said. “On the other hand, this is a very serious matter and children keep dying.”

___

This story has been corrected to reflect that an arrest report said the 11-year-old boy owned “various airsoft rifles and pistols” – not “airsoft rifles, pistols.”

___

Kate Payne is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.