Florida deputies separately arrested two students, ages 10 and 11, after the boys allegedly made death threats against children and teachers at their schools.
One of the boys, an 11-year-old at DeLand Middle School in DeLand, was arrested on Thursday, March 5, over allegedly using another student’s online account to threaten seven teachers, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said in a post shared to Facebook.
The boy is accused of writing “imma shoot you,” in messages received by the teachers, according to the sheriff.
A video shared to Facebook by Chitwood shows a deputy taking the student into custody before he is handcuffed and led into a holding cell.
This is the boy’s second arrest for making a written threat to kill since the fall, according to Chitwood.
He was previously arrested in October at Southwestern Middle School, where he allegedly made a similar shooting threat, Chitwood said.
The boy is accused of using another student’s account to send a group chat message, saying “IM GONNA SHOOT YOU,” according to Chitwood.
“These idiotic threats disrupt our schools, eat up time and resources, and increase the chances a real threat slips through the cracks,” Chitwood wrote in the Facebook post. “If you can threaten to shoot 7 teachers, you can take a perp walk. Parents, discipline your kids and I won’t have to.”
On Wednesday, March 4, the sheriff announced in another Facebook post that a 10-year-old student at Pride Elementary School in Deltona was arrested on a charge of a written threat to kill.
The boy allegedly threatened to bring a gun to school in a message written on a whiteboard at the elementary school, according to Chitwood.
He also placed a “list of people who i’m gunna kill” inside of a desk, Chitwood said.
The list contained the names of three students, according to Chitwood, who said the students’ parents have been notified.
In a video shared by Chitwood, a deputy is seen leading the 10-year-old into custody, with the boy handcuffed behind his back.
Just like the other student who was arrested on March 5, the 10-year-old was put in a holding cell, according to the video.
Chitwood wrote in the Facebook post that the 10-year-old student “told deputies he didn’t mean it” and his parents said that the boy “does not have access to any firearms.”
“That doesn’t change the consequences of his actions,” Chitwood wrote. “This is another reminder to talk to your kids and teach them this lesson before they learn it in the juvenile justice system.”
Us Weekly is not naming the two students because of their ages.
Volusia County is located in Central Florida, on the state’s east coast.
