Parents sharing concerns after 5th grader is arrested for school shooting threat

Reporter: Dannielle Garcia Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
5th grader school threat
(Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

Some parents in Southwest Florida are considering keeping their kids home from school after a local fifth-grader was arrested for a school shooting threat.

The 10-year-old boy is in juvenile detention. The sheriff makes no bones about it. He says the child threatened a mass shooting at his school; Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral.

Steve Little’s son is also in the fifth grade at Patriot Elementary School.

“Even if it is a false threat it’s sad. Sad for the kid because he’s going to go through a lot moving forward but you have to take everything seriously,” said Little.

Zuly Toranzo called the school to hear what the staff is doing to keep her daughter safe. She decided to send her little one to school on Tuesday but is not sure if she’s entirely comfortable yet.

“I don’t know if I’m going to send my daughter to the school or give her classes at home online I don’t know because I feel scared,” said Toranzo.

The sheriff hears from moms and dads all the time and he tells every parent he treats every school threat like it’s real.

According to LCSO, deputies have arrested 26 people for making threats this school year and investigated 337 more deemed not credible.

“If the kid is 10,12,17,18 years old, he presses that trigger on a gun, god forbid, the aftermath is the same. So every threat that comes in here is real until proven otherwise,” said Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office posts photos of the kids, the perp walk, and their names, no matter the age after they make a threat. WINK News asked Marceno why.

“I’ve had countless parents and people call and say thank you. Thank you for posting the picture. Thank you for walking that child in handcuffs because now my child is afraid to do something bad and also, because of what my child sees on the news,” said Marceno.

The sheriff said if he had his way schools would look more like airports, but for every RSW,  there are a hundred schools or more.

WINK News asked the sheriff what comes next for this child or any of the others who made threats? He said they keep tabs on them and monitor their social media accounts.

WINK News also knocked on the child’s father’s house and called, but received no response.

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