A man accused of threatening to kill students at five Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools campuses walked out of jail Saturday morning, just three days before roughly 140,000 CMS students returned to their classrooms Tuesday. Drew Owens had been held on a $200,000 secured bond for about a year and a half before a bondsman got him released after his bond was slashed to $75,000 in May.
Investigators say Owens laid out mass shooting plans targeting elementary, middle and high schools, according to WSOC TV. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police arrested him on February 19, 2025, charging him with multiple counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property, according to WCNC. The emails and letters targeted West Charlotte High, Ardrey Kell High, Community House Middle, Hawk Ridge Elementary and Garinger High School, with the anonymous threats claiming mass shootings were planned for late February or early March 2025.
A Threat Aimed at His Own Father
One emailed threat specifically targeted West Charlotte High School and threatened to kill someone identified only as “Darryl” — a reference to Owens' father, Darryl Owens, who worked as an ROTC instructor at the school, per WFAE. Darryl Owens was among those who received the anonymous threatening emails and later told police investigators he believed his son sent the threats in retaliation for being kicked out of the family home in 2021 amid ongoing substance abuse issues.
A separate letter mailed to Garinger High School staff claimed a non-existent student armed with shotguns and an AR-15 was planning a mass shooting targeting Black students. Investigators determined the verbiage matched Owens, who is Black, and administrators confirmed no student by the name listed in the letter was actually enrolled, the station's report noted.
Pattern of Harassment Before the Arrest
Court records showed an escalating pattern of harassing behavior by Owens before his arrest, including surveilling neighbors' residences and photographing his father's car parked on campus at West Charlotte High School. Neighbors have said Owens threatened, intimidated and harassed them, and one unnamed woman said the situation has been unnerving and scary for people living in the area.
At a February 2025 bond hearing, prosecutors successfully raised Owens' bond from $10,000 to $200,000 after court testimony revealed he was also wanted for failing to appear in court over a 2019 incident at the White House, per the same account from WSOC TV. Court records also showed Owens' father had previously attempted to have him involuntarily committed for mental health treatment, though the judge at that hearing declined to order a court-mandated mental health evaluation.
District's Communication Failures Still Linger
The February 2025 threats also triggered public outcry over how CMS handled notifications, with parents complaining they first learned of the threats through media coverage rather than district alerts. Superintendent Crystal Hill later issued a public video statement apologizing to parents and promising an after-action review, according to WFAE.
That distrust has resurfaced now that Owens is free. Parents said they were scared to send their children to school this week, even as CMS's 2026–2027 academic year officially began Tuesday, just three days after his release.
What Comes Next
Communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property is a Class H felony under North Carolina General Statute § 14-277.6, carrying a potential sentence of up to 25 months in prison under state structured sentencing guidelines. It remains unclear whether court-ordered electronic monitoring or stay-away conditions were imposed as part of Owens' release, and the status of his trial date in Mecklenburg County Superior Court has not been reported. It's also unclear what, if any, heightened security measures CMS police and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are deploying around the five previously targeted campuses as students settle back into their routines.
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