Multiple arrests made as district promises tough punishment for threats against schools

As threats continue to be made against Manatee County schools — and police make multiple arrests — School Superintendent Diana Greene and law enforcement promised they will punish and prosecute those responsible for the threats.

Bradenton police Tuesday said they had arrested and charged a 14-year-old Manatee High School freshman with threatening violence at the school. Detectives, who were assisted in their investigation by the FBI, say Darien Olliff wrote a note that was found last week in a bathroom at the school that threatened there would be a shooting at the school on Thursday, Feb. 22.

Bradenton police also said a second note threatening violence at Manatee High was discovered Tuesday.

The threats, along with others made after the mass shooting in Broward County last year, sparked stepped-up security at schools throughout Manatee County.

Manatee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dave Bristow said Tuesday night in a release that another 14-year-old boy was arrested and charged with a felony for making a threat against Braden River Middle School. The threat was made over the social media application Snapchat.

A screenshot of the photo, which officials confirmed Monday they were aware of and investigating a threat, was shared with the Bradenton Herald and showed someone holding a gun with a caption that said “Waiting on Tuesday for brms!! Round 3 Florida.” The person arrested was not the person in the photo, rather someone who used an old photo of someone else, Bristow clarified Wednesday.

The School District of Manatee County was cooperating with the sheriff’s office and police department investigations into the threats at Braden River Middle School and Manatee High School, district spokesman Mike Barber said Tuesday.

“We are working closely with them during the investigation process. We basically put that in the hands of law enforcement,” Barber said.

The sheriff’s office also arrested two 11-year-old girls in connection to a threat made over social media to Team Success, a charter school in Manatee County, according to Bristow.

Bristow said the threat was made on Snapchat, but he could not elaborate on the details of the threat. Both girls have been charged with felonies for making threats to a school.

“Kids have got to understand this isn’t funny and could give them a criminal record,” Bristow said. “As we continue to talk about it, it gets perpetuating but we want to make it clear that we are going to investigate these and if we can prove a criminal case we’re going to charge.”

It will also result in punishment from the School District of Manatee County.

“If a student is caught, whether they thought it was a prank, we will execute the full extent of our code of student conduct which means automatically a 10-day suspension and movement toward expulsion through the school district,” Greene said.

Anyone who has been identified by law enforcement is not in school, she added.

Safety on campus

Last week, deputies and Bradenton police officers increased their presence at Manatee County schools, a measure that continued into this week.

Tuesday morning, there were two Manatee County Sheriff’s Office cruisers outside Braden River Middle School as well as several school personnel as students walked into the building for the start of classes this week. Schools were not in session Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

Bristow said the sheriff’s office will continue its increased presence at Manatee County schools for now.

“We’ll continue to monitor the situation at all the schools, particularly the one where we do have a threat investigation going on,” Bristow said.

Greene said they will have additional law enforcement presence on campuses for “as long as we feel like we need that.” School officials met with law enforcement Tuesday and will continue to do so, she said.

“The goal is to ensure we have some sort of presence throughout the day,” Greene added.

Multiple media reports detail several other arrests that have been made throughout the state after similar threats were made to Florida schools.

The threats come in the aftermath of a mass shooting last Wednesday that killed 17 people and injured several more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Nikolas Cruz, 19, was arrested later that day.

On a Bradenton Herald Facebook post linking to the story about the threat to Braden River Middle School, some parents expressed concern over their children’s safety.

One parent of a Manatee County schools student commented that she was “comforted” the threats were being taken seriously, but wanted to see more security measures at the schools.

Another parent said she did not want to send her child to school. Yet another commenter noted they wanted to home school their children come August, and one person said their child attends Manatee High School and would not be returning until an arrest was made in the threat investigation.

Greene said they have received a few calls from parents saying they won’t send their children to school. Those absences are being marked as excused. But, Greene said, for the most part, Manatee County high schools have been seeing “pretty normal” attendance. Manatee High School had a six percent non-attendance rate.

She asked parents to talk to their children about violence and to check their social media. In the mean time, the district will review their security practices and do what they can to ensure the safety of their students, Greene said.

“We’re going to continue to focus on the safety of our students,” Greene said.

Manatee County schools conduct regular lockdown drills that involve administrators, faculty and students.

Principals had some refresher training about two weeks ago and the district will continue moving toward new training for teachers and students, Greene said.

Multiple agencies participate in full-scale active shooter drills as well, but students are not present.

Jessica De Leon, Herald staff reporter, contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Multiple arrests made as district promises tough punishment for threats against schools."