“I feel like shooting up the school and then living in solitary confinement for the rest of my days.”
That was the line the parent of a Flagler Palm Coast High School student noticed in an Instagram group chat her son was involved in. The line was not written by her son, but by a 16-year-old FPC girl, who followed her text with the emoji of a laughing and crying face. It wasn’t the only alarming line.
“I’m gonna murder someone”
“I’m straight up gonna be a serial killer”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a sociopath that doesn’t feel shit and would be happy to kill people.”
The messages were written Sunday evening (Feb. 16), according to sheriff’s deputies. The boy’s parent called the sheriff’s office Monday morning.
The girl who allegedly wrote the messages, is autistic. She is an athlete and also in the Flagler County Sheriff’s Explorer program, which the agency describes as “designed to build strong relationships between teens and law enforcement officers while teaching participants about the law enforcement profession.”
Parents have been repeatedly advised to stay on top of their children’s social media accounts, monitoring text and other electronic communications. This parent was doing just that with her son’s account. He “was reluctant to make any comments on the matter as he did not want to get [the girl] in any trouble,” the girl’s arrest report states. But he explained that he and fellow-students had recently completed an exam for advanced placement. Some had received a letter, some had not, and some saw the absence of a letter as indicating lesser marks.
Sheriff’s deputies, including school resource deputies, located the girl at her Palm Coast home, where the girl, on advice from her mother and as is her right, declined to speak to deputies right at that moment beyond a few statements.
The girl’s membership in the sheriff’s Explorer program was immediately terminated following her arrest. “Sheriff’s Explorer supervisors never observed any issues or had any problems with her in the program,” a sheriff’s release stated this afternoon. (The release names the student. FlaglerLive is withholding the name.)
“It is very unfortunate that a person who showed interest in becoming a law enforcement officer would make threats of this kind. That is not a type of behavior tolerated by our Sheriff’s Explorers or anyone else for that matter,” Sheriff Rick Staly was quoted as saying in the release. “I commend the parent who was doing the right thing and monitoring their child’s activity on their phone and saw this message and reported it. This type of parenting should be praised. We hope this student gets the help that she is crying out for.”
The girl was charged with sending a written threat to kill or conduct a mass shooting, a second-degree felony. Her booking was processed at the Flagler County jail before she was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Daytona Beach. Earlier this month another former FPC girl who was 16 at the time she was similarly charged with making threats to kill was, after a trial, sentenced to probation.
The sheriff’s release does not mention the girl’s autism, and a sheriff’s spokesperson said she was not aware of that. “We had no information about that,” the spokesperson said. “If the school district is aware, they have never let us know that.”
The district’s executive team was apprised of the arrest this afternoon, a school district spokesman said. “We can’t say anything about this particular student because of federal law,” a district spokesman said. “We appreciate the parent who saw this conversation online and reported it.”
When she was in elementary school in another state several years ago, her school denied her what her mother felt was her right to have her service dog at school, to help her with her autism. The district at the time did not view the dog as such, and said the child’s needs were being met, according to press reports. The issue went as far as generating a full editorial in a local paper urging the district to re-consider despite several compromises proposed by her mother.
Really says
Really, that certainly doesnt have a positive reflection of thst program nor the lack of communication between LEO and the School. Shoddy at best GL
V says
I surly hope the group sent her in the right direction. Local mental health is so desperatly needed.
Mmpatiant says
This sheriff office seems to have a vandatta against youngsters
Richard says
SEE something SAY something appears to be working!
Akashaaaaaa says
Smh just sick and toxic
Truthfully says
So are we supposed to say every kid with autism is only joking when they say stuff ? There’s 2700 other students at that school , we should not make excuses for the one kid who does this Dylan Cruz has some form of autism .. just because a parent states my child would never act out … what are the other 2700 parents supposed to say ? It was unfortunate she will get over it and it just makes us all aware .. the problem with this community is we are in a comfort zone and until something major happens , we sit around with are eyes half closed boom then a car break happens and we aware this is Compton California …. no … start locking your doors and stop leaving guns and stuff in your car .. we are reactive not proactive … proactive is zero tolerance against making threats to shoot up a school no matter your disability … reactive is saying the kid wouldn’t hurt a fly …
Lance Carroll says
I am guessing you have an immense amount of experience with folks that have autism spectrum diagnoses? Probably a lucky guess on my part…
anonymous says
I don’t believe it’s fair to say “she will get over it” when she will suffer life-long consequences, i’m not advocating or standing up for threats or violence in any way but I believe other options could be more beneficial without destroying her future. As a student at FPC I know that school is an extremely stressful and mentally exhausting environment, threats and violence is most certainly not the answer but I feel that there should be more of an attempt to get her help than instantly charge her with a felony. I’m sure most people reading this have said something that can be deemed “incriminating” without meaning what they said. I know threats need to be taken seriously for safety reasons but it is upsetting to see a fellow student face such drastic consequences and have her future ruined when she most likely didn’t even mean it.
Dave says
Whats next, we arrest students with down syndrome!? Dispicable ,just absolutely sad and disgraceful on the part of the sheriffs office.
Lance Carroll says
I have to agree here. Does the PBA defend explorers like they do sworn officers? Will the protectors of wayward police defend this child tooth and nail?
Anon says
We are not saying that they should be arrested. She made an account that could potentially kill a lot of students. Autism or not, she made threats that could harm others. The Sheriff’s office made a great account and call. They saved lives.
Lance Carroll says
Please document the amount of lives saved?
Lance Carroll says
Also: who is “we” and who are “they?”
Layla says
My God, what kind of kids are we raising here, a generation of predators? Looks to me like it’s time for a complete overhaul of our education system.
These kids are being stressed to the max and it’s not going to end well.
CB from PC says
Having shown success with other Autistic young people, maybe enrollment in another program where she can learn a musical instrument is a better choice.
It will provide an outlet to constructively channel coping difficulties, while building confidence and self-esteem.
According to the Florida Sheriffs Explorer website “Many posts teach their explorers about firearm safety and marksmanship”.
There is a place for firearms training, this particular instance is not one of them.
If you doubt this to be the case, just Google Adam Lanza.
C’mon man says
Autism or not you make a threat to kill people and/or students and you need to be delt with. what’s the other choice? Pretend it didn’t happen because someone has a mental conditions and ignore it? What happens when this person goes into a school and opens fire on innocent people? Thanks for arresting her i will feel better about my kids coming home now.