Sheriff Posts Video of 11-Year-Old Charged in Fake School Shooting Threat

Exasperated with a spate of false school shooting threats, a Florida sheriff promised last week to post the picture of any “kid” who threatened school violence — then he quickly followed through on his statement.

On Monday, the sheriff, Mike Chitwood of Volusia County, posted a picture and video of an 11-year-old boy who, he said, had made written threats online to commit a mass shooting at a middle school.

Sheriff Chitwood shared his plan on Friday at a news conference in DeLand, a city about 40 miles north of Orlando near Florida’s Atlantic coast. He said that since parents don’t want to raise their children, “I’m going to start raising them.” Speaking alongside school officials, he promised that on Monday he would start posting photos of those arrested.

“Every time we make an arrest,” he said, “your kid’s photo is going to be put out there. And if I could do it, I’m going to perp walk your kid, so that everybody can see what your kid’s up to.”

On Monday, video of the 11-year-old being escorted by officers while in handcuffs was posted on the Facebook page of the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, with the caption, “as promised.”

A post on the Facebook page for the sheriff’s office also named the 11-year-old boy and identified him as a resident of Port Orange, Fla., and a student at Creekside Middle School. He was charged with making written threats to commit a mass shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle Schools, a felony, according to the page, which also posted his mug shot.

The Facebook post also included images of weapons that the sheriff’s office said the boy was “showing off to other students in a video,” including “airsoft rifles, pistols and fake ammunition,” as well as knives and swords.

In what the authorities have called a nationwide trend, threats of mass violence have proliferated on social media in the wake of a school shooting in Winder, Ga., that claimed four lives on Sept. 4. In Broward County, Fla., where 17 people were killed at a high school in Parkland in 2018, officials said last week that they had arrested nine students since August in connection with threats of violence. In Central California, several teens have been arrested in connection with threats.

The State Attorney’s Office for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, which covers Volusia County, did not immediately respond to calls and emails on Tuesday regarding charges against the 11-year-old. Florida law prohibits the public release of juvenile court records — but that law does not apply if the juvenile is charged with a felony.

Efforts to reach the boy’s family on Tuesday were not immediately successful.

In a post on the sheriff’s Facebook page, Sheriff Chitwood defended his practice and doubled down on his promise. “P.S.,” he wrote in a postscript, “I can and will release the names and photos of juveniles who are committing these felonies, threatening our students, disrupting our schools and consuming law enforcement resources.”

The video of the boy spread rapidly on social media, where it raised alarm among juvenile justice advocates about the ethics of posting images of children, even as it was celebrated by some as a tough-love message to young people who might be tempted to make threats.

Marsha Levick, the chief legal officer and co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center, said she understood Sheriff Chitwood was taking a tough stance in response to a rash of false threats — and the real risk of violence against students.

“He is trying to respond to a terrible situation,” she said. “We also have to be aware of this sort of dragnet of children. They may make threats that are completely nonserious, and doing a sweep of any kid, I do think raises questions.”

She went on: “Is the goal to shame or is the goal to prevent?” she said of the sheriff’s practice of posting photos and videos, warning it could be copied by the authorities in other parts of the country. “He doesn’t need to parade this kid, this 11-year-old child, in front of a camera to achieve his purpose. Just do traditional things — arresting, charging — that don’t add this layer of shaming, embarrassing, humiliating and traumatizing.”

The sheriff said at last week’s news conference that his move was intended to stop students from making baseless threats, and abusing a tips app, FortifyFL. He said the authorities fielded more than 200 threats since the start of the school year, leading to round-the-clock work for investigators that had cost the county thousands of dollars.

The message was also geared toward parents, whom Sheriff Chitwood warned about the risk of not taking action if they knew their child was making threats. Across the country, parents of school shooters have increasingly faced consequences, including criminal charges.

“I’m going to show you every kid that’s been arrested and where they go to school,” he said at the news conference last week. “And then from there on out, we’re going to publicly shame them and their parents,” he said.

Kirsten Noyes contributed research.