'Very scary:' 13-year-old accused of threatening to 'shoot up' Bayside school, affidavit shows

BAYSIDE -- A 13-year-old Bayside Middle School student stands accused of making comments to his friends about wanting to shoot people at the school, while holding a gun, according to a search warrant affidavit. Fortunately, one of those friends spoke up.

Bayside police responded to Bayside Middle School on Oct. 8, where a student alerted administrators that his classmate and friend had made several alarming comments since summer. In one particular instance, the student said his friend stated he "was going to 'shoot the place up' so they wouldn't have to go." On Oct. 2, the student said his friend waved a handgun at him while they were talking on FaceTime and declared, "This is for the French teacher tomorrow." That same evening, he confessed that "he planned on killing himself" at his house while his parents were gone.

When officers interviewed the boy, police said he sarcastically replied, "So now I'm a suicidal school shooter."

"You see these things in other states and your heart already sinks, and then to know it hit this close to home, it's really very scary," said Ebony Whitson, parent.

Whitson said Thursday, Oct. 24, her eighth-grade daughter was still worried about the threat after police put the building on lockdown two weeks prior.

"She said they kept them inside the day that it happened and wouldn't let them go out of the classrooms or out for recess or anything like that," said Whitson.

In a letter to parents, the superintended assured: "The District has also implemented safety measures, and in an abundance of caution, we are continuing to request ongoing police presence."

"But it's just kind of that unknown -- what's going to happen today?" said Whitson.

According to the affidavit, the boy's parents told police they do have weapons in the house, but they're secure. The search warrant affidavit showed police would be looking for evidence to support the witness statements on the boy's electronics.