Douglas County authorities investigate threat to school, 12-year-old student in custody
On Thursday Feb. 16, at about 7 p.m. the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office received a report that a male juvenile had made threats that he intended to bring a gun to the Carson Valley Middle School on Friday, Feb. 17 and “shoot up the school.”
A concerned parent had intercepted this threatening message that was sent from the suspect juvenile, to their child. Douglas County sheriff’s deputies responded to the residence of the reporting party located in the Indian Hills area of Douglas County and met with the parent to examine the phone in which the threat was received.
Subsequent investigation by the responding deputies, the Douglas County Sheriff’s School Resource Officers, and the Douglas County School District resulted in the identification of the phone in which the threats were sent. Deputies with the assistance of the Douglas County Communications dispatchers traced that phone to a residence in Chichester Estates.
Deputies arrived at that residence at about 8:30 p.m. and located a 12-year-old male student that possessed the phone that had sent the threatening message. The juvenile admitted to sending the threat but claimed he was not serious. The juvenile was subsequently arrested for harassment and threatening to use a firearm at a school and turned over to the custody of Douglas County Juvenile Probation authorities.
The only weapons recovered at the suspect residence were a BB gun and two knives, there was no evidence the juvenile ever had a firearm or access to firearms.
This was an isolated incident that only involved the suspect and the other student he sent the threat to. The suspect juvenile has been taken into custody. There is no evidence or information to indicate any other threat or danger exists and school is in session as scheduled.