A 10-year-old student at Pride Elementary in Deltona was taken into custody yesterday after deputies say he scrawled a permanent-marker threat on a classroom whiteboard promising to bring a gun to school and left a separate note on a desk titled "list of people who I'm gunna kill" that named three classmates. He was arrested on a felony charge of making a written threat to kill. Deputies say he later told them he did not mean the threats. Parents of the three students named in the note were notified, and the child's parent told investigators he does not have access to any firearms.
What deputies say
According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, deputies took the boy into custody on March 4 after the whiteboard message and desk note were found at Pride Elementary. Local reporting identified him as Micah Swinnie. The sheriff's office said the writings led to a felony booking on a charge of making a written threat to kill, as reported by KABB/FOX San Antonio.
Sheriff urges parents to talk to kids
Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood is using the incident as another cautionary tale for parents, stressing that talk of violence, even from young kids, can come with real juvenile justice consequences. "This is another reminder to talk to your kids and teach them this lesson before they learn it in the juvenile justice system," he said, according to WESH.
Not an isolated case in Volusia
The arrest comes on the heels of a string of similar cases in Volusia County. In November, an 11-year-old at a Deltona learning center was charged after deputies said he wrote a "kill list," a case detailed in an earlier "kill list" case. National outlets have highlighted an uptick in juvenile threat cases and a growing debate over whether arresting children is the right response. The Washington Post has examined how seemingly routine comments or jokes by students have escalated into felony charges in parts of Florida.
Legal context
Under Florida law, making a written threat to kill or to do bodily injury is a second-degree felony, as laid out in Section 836.10 of the state statutes. Courts have applied this law to written notes and posted messages in school settings. State rules also require that school officials be notified when a child is taken into custody for an offense that would be a felony if an adult committed it, under Section 985.04.
Volusia deputies say the investigation is ongoing and that school staff cooperated with law enforcement as parents were notified. The child remains in custody pending the next steps in the juvenile system, officials told WFTV.
