For the second time this month, student threatens shooting at Palmetto school, cops say

For the second time in less than two weeks, Blackburn Elementary School in Palmetto faced a school shooting threat from one of its students.

According to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office incident report dated Feb. 12, which was publicly released Thursday, a 10-year-old Blackburn student was causing a disruption in class and fighting with another student. The other students were removed from the classroom as the school’s dean attempted to intervene.

According to the report, the student began cursing at the dean and said they would return to the school “with a gun and light the place up.”

Though the district does not comment on a student discipline, the report notes the student was suspended for three days.

The threat follows on the heels of a Feb. 7 incident where a third grade student at Blackburn was questioned by law enforcement after telling other students, “I’m gonna leave and go home, get a gun and come back and shoot everybody,” deputies say.

Threats within the Manatee County School District have been prevalent this year, but few students have been arrested. The district has opted for internal disciplinary actions.

Prior to the two recent incidents at Blackburn Elementary, the youngest students to make threats about violence at school or toward other students this school year occurred at Dr. Mona Jain Middle School. There was another at Nolan Middle School where a student was arrested for allegedly brandishing two knives and brandishing a firearm while threatening to shoot another student on social media.

The majority of incidents this school year took place in area high schools.