Two students in Chesterfield County are now being charged with making threats to “shoot up” Cheraw High School, according to a press release from the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office.
These threats happened in two separate cases.
The first was made by a 15-year-old student who was upset about other students picking on him for how he treated his girlfriend. He was sent home after an outburst at the school. After leaving campus the student sent a text to another student telling them not to attend school next week because he was going to return and “shoot up” the school.
Investigators obtained a copy of the text message and charged the teen with Student Threats. The student admitted to sending the text but said he only sent it because he was upset and did not actually plan to shoot up the school.
The second threat was made by a 14-year-old student who was involved in a fight in a school bathroom. The student made verbal threats to shoot up the school. Students overhearing this reported the threat to the School Resource Officer, Timothy Knight. The 14-year-old denies making the threat. That student has also been charged with Student Threats.
“I commend the students who came forward to the School Resource Officer and made him aware of the threats that were made. I also commend SRO Knight for his prompt handling of the situation,” said Chesterfield County Sheriff Jay Brooks.
Sheriff Brooks also reminds everyone that his department takes these threats very seriously and threats of violence at schools will not be tolerated.
