A 15-year-old Oxford High School special needs student who allegedly sent messages via an on-line social networking service threatening to carry out a school shooting and kill himself was removed from the building without incident last week by Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies.
He was transported to Common Ground in Pontiac for psychiatric evaluation and potential placement in a facility.
Once the investigation is complete, the matter will be turned over to the prosecutor’s office for review.
‘You don’t know if somebody’s blowing off steam or if they’re serious,? said Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Patterson, commander of the Oxford Township substation. ‘You can’t guess. You’ve got to take it at face value.?
‘The student is suspended pending investigation,? said Oxford Superintendent Tim Throne.
The sheriff’s office received a tip from representatives of MeetMe.com, based in New Hope, Pennsylvania, indicating the teen, who was identified as a Pontiac resident and schools-of-choice student, was allegedly making significant threats of violence involving himself and others at his school in a series of private messages he exchanged with an unknown individual on Oct. 14. It was a MeetMe staff member who raised the red flag.
Acting on the tip, sheriff’s investigators went to OHS on Oct. 15 and removed the teen from class for his safety as well as the safety of others.
‘Unfortunately, you don’t know if they mean it, not mean it, have access to weapons to act on it ? you just don’t know,? Patterson said. ‘And in this day and age, you just can’t take a chance.?
Both the student and his locker were searched for weapons. None were found.
‘At no time were our students in danger or anything like that,? Throne said. ‘Police assured our staff that we were in no danger.?
The teen’s mother and grandmother were contacted and came to the high school. According to the sheriff’s report, they said the teen had recently made suicidal statements and is receiving counseling. They told sheriff’s investigators he ‘was a normal kid up until two years ago? when he began exhibiting signs of selective mutism.
MeetMe, Inc.’s legal team provided the sheriff’s office with an 11-page report containing excerpts of the private messages allegedly sent by the teen.
According to the report, the teen wrote, ‘Can mass murder be forgiven?? and ‘So I can go shoot up my school and say sorry and if I really mean it I can be forgiven.?
He allegedly wrote he was planning to kill both himself and others.
One of the messages attributed to him stated, ‘I won’t kill everyone. I will let the nice ones live.? As for himself, the student allegedly wrote he has a ‘lot of stuff going on? in his life and ‘I want to end it.?
When the person he was communicating with inquired about the problems in his life, the teen replied, ‘Well I am having family issues, I get bullied and everyone hates me? and ‘There is nothing I am good at.?
When asked which high school he attends, the student allegedly replied, ‘I can’t tell you.? The reason given was, ‘Cause don’t want you to know or think it was me who did it.?
The report stated the student then wrote, ‘Haven’t dong [sic] it yet. Going to do it.?
The teen was asked what he planned to do and, according to the report, he replied, ‘I think you can guest [sic] it starts with a B and I may do something else that starts with a S.?
All the messages came from an iPhone.
The teen’s iPhone was confiscated by investigators. A search warrant was obtained and a forensic examination of it was conducted.
In addition to messages, MeetMe, Inc. also provided the sheriff’s office with the profile photograph associated with the account from which they came. The sheriff’s report indicated it was a photo of the OHS student.
Because the teen is a special education student, a detail that came from the sheriff’s office, Throne said there are different disciplinary procedures that must be followed by the district in this situation as opposed to how general education students are handled.
‘We’ve got to just make sure we do this the right way so that we don’t violate his rights,? he said.
The superintendent noted he’s not saying this student’s rights ‘are more important than the other 1,500 kids at the high school.?
‘That’s not the case,? he said. ‘We just want to ensure in this case, as in all cases, that we follow the proper procedure and all of our students are protected.?
Throne was grateful to the sheriff’s office for bringing this alleged threat to the district’s attention and complimentary of the way deputies handled the situation.
‘Did the sheriff’s department act on their information right away? Absolutely,? he said. ‘I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that they follow up on things that happen out there everyday. Things are posted all the time on (social media). Sometimes it’s hard to determine what’s true, what’s not true, what’s factual, what needs to be followed up on and what doesn’t.?