Father Of McKinney Teen Arrested For School Threat: 'It Ended In Tragedy'
MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - The father of a former McKinney Boyd High School student opened up about his son's arrest in 2012, for posting a shooting threat to Facebook.
"It ended in tragedy really," he said.
The father didn't want his name used in our report, and police never released the student's name when they arrested him in October of 2012. The boy was 16 at the time.
"They found the post, showed it to me and of course, I was mortified," said his father. "I didn't know what was going on, to be honest with you."
The post described a detailed plan to commit mass murder at the school. The teen described who he would kill and how he would do it.
"The stuff I was reading didn't really fit him, so I was totally confused," his father said.
His son fits a profile of students who typically post threats online, described by Collin County Judge Cynthia Wheless.
"Typical students are from affluent backgrounds," said Judge Wheless. "Some of them are on spectrums, whether it's ADHD spectrum or autism spectrum. Some of them are the pervasive bullying victims," she said.
The teen from Boyd High School was bullied, according to his dad, and diagnosed Bi-Polar, ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome before posting the threat.
The months that followed the arrest put enormous stress on the family.
Lawyer fees and the cost of court-ordered mental health treatment nearly bankrupted them.
They depleted college funds and opened a home equity loan. The teen was expelled from school and couldn't graduate on time. His younger sister went back to class, which was now a very hostile environment.
More than five years later, and the family was torn apart. The parents divorced. The siblings don't speak.
"Well, ultimately, it was devastating," the father said. "Everybody split up. We're all kind of off in the wind," he said.
Since the shooting in Parkland, Florida, 16 students in Collin County were arrested for threats against the school or students.
The charges can vary from a Class A Misdemeanor to a Third Degree Felony. If the students' parents own guns, the charge is automatically upgraded because of the student's access to a firearm.