On September 16, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office was notified of an implied threat of a shooting that would happen during the homecoming parade scheduled for 1:00 PM that day. Apparently, some juvenile friends were engaged in a group chat that began during the night of September 15 while playing Fantasy Football. During their messaging back-and-forth, one juvenile made statements that were implied to mean that such a shooting might occur. The parent of a member of the group found out about the statements and contacted the Sheriff’s Office the morning of the 16th. This led to deputies going into the field to interview parents and kids before the juvenile responsible for the statements was taken into custody at 8:50 A.M.
“We launched a thorough investigation and established a probable cause of terrorist threat, getting authority to arrest this juvenile,” said Lieutenant Kelly Lowe of the Sheriff’s Office. “We informed School Resource Officers, the Juvenile Office and Chief of Police making them aware of the situation and turned the 14-year-old over to the Deputy Juvenile Officer.”
Deputy Juvenile Officer Jesse Wood operates out of the Missouri Judiciary through county circuit courts. He said that after a referral to his office a case will be assessed to determine whether to handle it formally (in front of the court), or informally, which is out of court and it is treatment based. If handled out of court the juvenile would be informed that his or her actions have consequences such as treatment.”
Lieutenant Lowe made a statement on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page after the arrest Monday morning. He emphasized the importance of the swift actions taken by other juveniles who were witnesses to the situation and promptly alerted their parents. He said they were to be commended for quick thinking and willingness to “See Something, Say Something,” helping prevent a potentially dangerous situation.
“The Benton County Sheriff’s Office always takes threats of a shooting with the utmost seriousness due to the immediate danger they pose to public safety and the potential for devastating harm,” said Lowe. “Every threat, whether direct or implied, carries with it the possibility of significant violence and loss of life and as such, law enforcement’s duty is to act swiftly and decisively….”
He also said that the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t believe that people in our county wish such harm to others, but that possible threats need their response to protect the public.
www.news.vcu.edu reports that guns are now the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The site gave possible explanations for why this is happening. First, the U. S. has the highest civilian gun ownership in the world by a huge margin. Second, school safety is not as high as it should be. Third is social media, a component that revolves around how people make it OK on social media to act on violence.
