Student types, deletes shooting ‘joke’ in email in AZ, suit says. He’s suspended
An Arizona high school student was “goofing around” at home with his mother when he typed out, then quickly deleted a shooting “joke” in an email draft to his English teacher about grades, attorneys for his parents say.
It was one of multiple jokes he wrote, and did not keep, in the draft on a laptop provided by his Tucson school, as his mother was there and had been watching his screen, according to a federal lawsuit filed by his parents.
Though he never sent the message, Marana High School officials in Pima County saw what the sophomore typed on Oct. 9, as his laptop keystrokes were monitored by an AI software used by his school district, the lawsuit brought by Curtis and Karalee Merrill on behalf of their son says.
Then he was suspended for 10 days, according to an amended complaint filed July 16 in U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. The suspension was ultimately extended to 45 days, the filing says.
Challenging their son’s suspension, the Merrills’ lawsuit argues he was wrongly punished for the email draft typed outside of school, in violation of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The lawsuit was brought against Marana Unified School District, district Superintendent Dr. Daniel Streeter as well as a few other school district employees.
Attorneys for the defendants did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment. Streeter also did not immediately return a request for comment.
What did the email say?
According to the lawsuit “Within an hour of (the student) closing his laptop,” his principal and a school resource officer phoned Karalee Merrill, asking where her son was because “they were concerned about a possible threat.”
They told her the AI safety-related software the school subscribes to, called Gaggle, detected and alerted them to her son’s email draft, according to the complaint.
The complaint says he wrote, then deleted:
“Mister mister I want to date your sister,” “Skibidi toilet my grade is in the toilet,” and “GANG GANG GIMME A BETTER GRADE OR I SHOOT UP DA SKOOL HOMIE.”
Karalee Merrill was surprised that Gaggle noticed and flagged son’s message, which she said was “on the computer for a few seconds,” while speaking with KOLD-TV.
She told the TV station that she advised her son to remove the “joke.”
“I was like, ‘(You) better delete it, because what if you accidentally send it?,’” she said in an interview with KOLD-TV.
“He was like, ‘Ohh,’ and then he hit delete, delete, delete, and closed the Chromebook,” Karalee Merrill added.
After her son’s suspension was extended to 45 days, he appealed the extension, according to the lawsuit.
Following 11 days of suspension, Dr. Streeter decided to adjust the suspension to nine more days, the complaint says.
One of the attorneys leading the case, Aaron Baumann, with Arizona State University’s First Amendment Clinic, said while speaking with KTAR News 92.3 FM that “What’s important here is that the student didn’t send this email to anybody at the school. …The school only knew about this because of this AI surveillance.”
The student’s parents seek an unspecified in damages and demand a jury trial, the lawsuit shows.
“Schools’ efforts to prevent harm can lead to overzealous regulation of students’ speech and actions, resulting in violation of their civil liberties,” the complaint states.
“This case arises from such overzealous regulation, in which Defendants’ desire to prevent violence led to a decision to unconstitutionally police a student’s speech about violence, even when that speech occurred off campus and regardless of whether it posed a credible threat to the school,” the filing continues.
This story was originally published August 15, 2025 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Student types, deletes shooting ‘joke’ in email in AZ, suit says. He’s suspended."
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