Prosecutors are requesting that one of three juveniles accused of making school threats last month be waived into adult court.
A hearing on whether the 16-year-old Columbus male will face two allegations of felony intimidation in adult court is set for 11 a.m. March 27 in Bartholomew Juvenile Court before Magistrate Heather Mollo, court records state.
The teen, a former Columbus East High School student, is accused of communicating a threat to another person Feb. 21 with the intent of interfering with the occupancy of Columbus East High School while drawing or using a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony, court documents state. In the second allegation, a Level 6 felony, the teen is accused of communicating a threat to commit a forcible felony to another person to interfere with the occupancy of Columbus East, court documents state.
The incident in which the threats were alleged to have happened began early in the Feb. 21 school day, when East students moving large items in a hallway accidentally hitting a fire alarm box, activating the alarm, school officials said. East students evacuated and began taking photos and videos while outside, which they shared on social media.
The former student is accused of sending a response back to one or more of the current students via social media, making a threat of violence, Columbus police said. He also sent a photo of himself holding a firearm, police said. Police identified the juvenile from the photo and arrested him the same day, taking him to the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center.
The prosecutor’s office is not seeking to waive the other two juveniles into adult court, according to court records.
In the first of those two cases, a 16-year-old male Columbus East High School student was arrested by Columbus police Feb. 20 after students told authorities that he had made a social media threat against the school on Snapchat, suggesting the school would be “shot up” in two days, school officials said.
After being told about the threat, Columbus East dean Michael McBride and Columbus Police School resource officer Julie Quesenbery went to the student’s classroom and removed the teen, isolating him in a private area away from the student body. He faces a petition alleging delinquency in juvenile court, with his next hearing before Mollo next week.
During his initial hearing, Mollo allowed the teen to be released to his father and stepmother on electronic monitoring. He is not allowed to attend work or any other activity that is not directly supervised by his parents or the Youth Services Center staff. He is also prohibited with having any contact with Columbus East High School, court documents state.
In the third case, a 16-year-old male student from Edinburgh will appear before Mollo in April on two accusations relating to an incident at Simon Youth Academy at Edinburgh Premium Outlets on Feb. 21, court documents state.
He is accused of showing a sketch depicting a shooting scene to some of his classmates, police said. The drawing contained sketches of a classroom, a semi-automatic pistol and bodies identified by student and teacher names, police said.
Court documents accuse the student of a Level 6 felony intimidation charge for communicating a threat to another person with the intent to cause the evacuation of the school, and also a Class B misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana, court documents state.
The student was taken to the Bartholomew County Youth Services Center after his Feb. 21 arrest, police said.
An ongoing investigation continues regarding two incidents at Hauser High School, one on Feb. 20 and another the next day. In the first incident, a 15-year-old male Hauser student is accused of threatening to kill another student, which was reported to the Hope Police Department. Hope officers have sent their report to the prosecutor’s office in that case.
In the other matter, Hauser students overheard a 16-year-old classmate making a threat earlier in February and reported the incident Feb. 21 to school officials, who then reported it to Hope police.
