VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Two 13-year-old middle school students have become the latest to join a group of Volusia County students facing criminal charges after deputies said they made false reports about having guns at school.
On Wednesday morning, Deltona Middle School’s principal reported a suspicious incident that occurred the day before during seventh-period class, when a teenage boy made comments that alarmed two teachers and students in the class, deputies said.
Interactive map: Central Florida school threats, hoaxes
The teen allegedly said, “I’m gonna get suspended after first period on the last day of school” and “I’m (going to) bring my backpack with all my stuff in it.”
Deputies said a school resource deputy spoke to two teachers and several students who said they heard the comment. Two students also told the officer the student made hand motions like a gun while making shooting sounds.
The teen told the deputy he was making laughing noises like a video he’s seen. The teen’s mother told the deputy that the family doesn’t own any firearms.
That teen is facing a charge of threatening to discharge a destructive device, which is a felony.
Meanwhile, deputies said a 13-year-old student at DeLand Middle School became upset Tuesday after being told to sit where he didn’t want to sit in class. When he moved to a different seat, the teacher told him to return to his original seat, deputies said. A student then overheard the teen say he was going to shoot someone, deputies said.
A student told a deputy she heard him say "I have a gun in my backpack" and believed students around him were getting frightened, deputies said. Based on students' accounts, the deputy found the teen had made a threat to shoot at least one student in the class and followed the statement by imitating having a gun and pulling it out of his book bag with the intent to cause fear.
The teen is also facing a charge of making a threat to discharge a destructive device.
Since the Feb. 14 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, 11 Volusia County students have faced criminal charges related to making threats.
Cox Media Group
