A fifth grade student at Mesa View Elementary was arrested this afternoon (February 21) after saying he was going to bring a gun to school and shoot people.

The students who the comments were directed towards told their teacher who forwarded that information to the school's principal and law enforcement.

Upon investigation, police determined the student did not have a gun on campus and charged him with misdemeanor menacing. He was released to his parents.

This arrest is just a day after two students at Caprock Academy were arrested. In that story, I strongly urged parents and guardians to have a discussion with their children about their feelings and the power of the words they say.

School violence, including threats without action, are taken seriously. That means the people involved will be held accountable. They will be arrested and charged. There can't be exceptions because there isn't any room for error.

As adults, we also need to be paying close attention to all the information so we know what is real and what is being perpetuated by those who get their thrills out of fearmongering. We owe it to our children to give them a sense of optimism and not fear of what's out there.

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