Teen charged after bomb threats made against his high school
(NEW YORK) — A 15-year-old was charged after allegedly making bomb threats against his Maryland high school in May, police said.
According to the Montgomery County Police Department, the teen allegedly worked with a 12-year-old boy from Pennsylvania to call in the threats to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, prompting the school to go into lockdown.
The 15-year-old found the 12-year-old on social media, according to police, and allegedly paid him an undisclosed amount of money to call in the threat. Neither child has been named by the authorities.
Police said the 15-year-old “communicated in real-time with the 12-year-old, providing information, updates and instructions as the threats were being made.”
“The caller demanded that a certain dollar amount be paid to prevent bombs from detonating at the school,” police added in a release.
A SWAT team and K-9 units responded to the school, and a search of the campus turned up no explosives. Students were dismissed for the day, police said.
The two also allegedly made threats to Walt Whitman High School and Bethesda Elementary School the next day, police said.
The 15-year-old has been charged with multiple felonies, including threats of mass violence, making a false statement and extortion.
He was released to his family, police said.
Under Maryland state law, charges cannot be filed against the 12-year-old, according to police.
“However, the actions of both individuals caused disruption to the school day, forcing a lockdown, and taking an emotional toll on the students, staff, and the community,” police said.
(NEW YORK) — A Georgia sheriff whose office in 2023 investigated an online school shooting threat that led to Colt Gray, the teen now accused of a deadly rampage inside his high school last week, said they “probably” dropped the ball on notifying the suspect’s school district about monitoring him.
Colt Gray, 14, is accused of killing two students and two teachers in Wednesday’s shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County, about 45 miles north of Atlanta. Nine others were also injured. Colt Gray had transferred from another school in neighboring Jackson County to Apalachee only two weeks prior, the sheriff’s department in Barrow County told ABC News.
In May of last year, the sheriff’s office in Jackson County investigated an online school shooting threat that the FBI said was traced to Colt Gray. The FBI reached out to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office after Discord users alerted the Bureau about a post threatening a shooting at a middle school in Jefferson, Georgia.
An investigator interviewed Colt Gray and his father about the post at their home on May 21, 2023. The then-13-year-old told the investigator he had a Discord account but had deleted it months earlier and denied making the threats online, according to a transcript of the interview. There was no probable cause for arrest, the FBI said in a statement.
Following the investigation, a former captain in the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office sent a note to the FBI saying that “we have made area schools aware and will monitor this subject,” according to the sheriff’s office. The FBI also said in a statement that Jackson County “alerted local schools for continued monitoring of the subject.”
Jackson County Sheriff Janis Mangum said following the school shooting in Barrow County, the FBI alerted her that the suspect was the same teenager her office had investigated last year. Mangum said in a news release on Sept. 6 that after “speaking with Dr. Donna McMullan with the Jefferson City Schools On September 5, 2024, it came to my attention they had no record of being notified of a threat by Colt Gray who was enrolled there.”
The incident raises questions about whether the previous district could have forwarded that information to Barrow County Schools officials once Colt Gray transferred to their district two weeks ago.
Asked by ABC News on Monday whether her office dropped the ball, Mangum said not on the investigation.
“But on notifying the school, probably,” she said, noting that some personnel who worked on the case left the office before the shooting incident last week. “Because I don’t know. If you say area schools are notified, who did you talk to and what school did you talk to? I don’t know.”
Mangum maintained that the 2023 investigation was “done thoroughly” but said she is unable to provide an answer about what happened with the school notification.
“I’m the sheriff. The bottom line is, it falls on me because I am the sheriff,” she continued.
Mangum said Monday her office was looking into emails to see if they could find any records, but at this time they only have the note the former captain sent to the FBI stating that the office did notify schools. She said she has yet to speak to the former captain who sent the note to the FBI and the former investigator who interviewed Colt Gray. She indicated that she didn’t know whether the former captain made phone calls to any area schools instead of leaving a paper trail.
ABC News has reached out to the former captain and investigator for comment.
As for the investigation into the online school shooting threat, Mangum said there wasn’t probable cause for an arrest or to charge the teen with making a terroristic threat.
“As far as the investigation, no, I don’t see anything else that could have been done back then in May of 2023 that he could have done. He did everything he could do at that time with what he had,” Mangum said of the investigator.
She said she believes the 2023 investigation will likely be important for the prosecution regarding the school shooting last week.
Mangum said she is “heartbroken” over the deadly incident.
“My prayers go out to those families that lost their loved ones,” she said. “It hurts me to even think that that could have happened anywhere.”
Colt Gray has been charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder. More charges will be filed, prosecutors said.
His father, Colin Gray, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children in the second degree, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. He is accused of “knowingly allowing his son, Colt, to possess a weapon,” GBI Director Chris Hosey said last week.
The father and son both made their first court appearances on Friday. Neither has entered a plea and both are set to return to court on Dec. 4.
(MILWAUKEE) — The family of D’Vontaye Mitchell, who died on June 30 after he was pinned down by four hotel workers outside a Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, reached a settlement with the hotel on Monday after the workers, whose actions were seen in security video, were charged in his death.
Family attorneys Ben Crump, Will Sulton and B’Ivory Lamarr said in a joint statement on Monday that the Mitchell family’s legal team “entered good faith conversations” with Hyatt “with the goal of helping to achieve resolution for the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell.”
“We are pleased to share that we have reached an amicable settlement,” they added. “The terms of an agreement will be confidential. The parties are pleased that they were able to resolve this matter outside of court and will have no further comment about the settlement.”
A spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality – the hotel management firm that manages the Hyatt in Milwaukee – confirmed the settlement to ABC News in a statement on Monday.
“The settlement announced today is a result of the good faith discussions with the representatives of the family of D’Vontaye Mitchell with the goal of bringing the family some comfort as they mourn this tragic loss,” the statement said.
The announcement of the settlement comes after a court official in Milwaukee on Monday denied motions to dismiss charges of felony murder filed against four hotel workers in connection to Mitchell’s death.
The attorneys for the four hotel workers – security guard Todd Alan Erickson, front desk agent Devin W. Johnson-Carson, bellman Herbert T. Williamson, and Brandon Ladaniel Turner, a security guard who was off-duty during the incident – argued during a preliminary hearing on Monday that there was no probable cause for felony murder and asked for the charges to be dismissed.
Milwaukee County Court Commissioner Rosa Barillas ordered the four men to stand trial, saying, “I am going to find that the state has met their burden, find that there is probable cause to believe that there — a felony was committed by Mr. Erickson, Mr. Carson, Mr. Turner and Mr. Williamson, and they are all bound over for trial to the Circuit Court.”
Craig Johnson, an attorney representing Johnson-Carson, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that he and his client “respectfully disagree with the probable cause finding.”
“This situation was a tragedy, but not every tragedy has a villain, and not every tragedy is a crime,” Johnson added. “In this case, we expect to contest the connection between any action of Mr. Johnson-Carson and the death of Mr. Mitchell. Mr. Johnson-Carson was responding to a volatile and potentially dangerous situation that could have threatened the safety of hotel staff and guests. His actions were not criminal, and did not contribute to the death of Mr. Mitchell.”
Meanwhile, attorney Matt Last, who represents Turner, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that they are “disappointed” that the charge against his client was not dismissed.
“We contend the testimony provided in court did not support such a finding,” Last said. “We further believe the testimony showed Mr. Turner was acting in a lawful and appropriate matter and intend on proving this to a jury.”
ABC News reached out to the attorneys representing Williamson and Erickson, but requests for comment were not immediately returned.
According to court records reviewed by ABC News, the defendants have not yet entered pleas in this case and are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
The Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office announced on Aug. 6 that it filed a felony murder charge against each of the four individuals related to Mitchell’s death on June 30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee.
“These charges are based on an extensive review of the evidence collected by the Milwaukee Police Department, the autopsy conducted and the report produced by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, and information received from members of the community,” the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
The Milwaukee County medical examiner ruled Mitchell’s death was a homicide, the result of restraint asphyxia and toxic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine.
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
(BELLE GLADE, Fla.) — Nine people are dead, including six children, after a vehicle overturned in a Florida canal, authorities said.
A lone survivor who was injured in the crash remains hospitalized, authorities said.
The incident occurred Monday evening in Palm Beach County. At approximately 7:30 p.m., authorities began receiving calls reporting a car in a canal near Belle Glade, authorities said. First responders found a vehicle upside down with only the wheels visible, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Capt. Tom Reyes.
The vehicle had been traveling westbound on Hatton Highway when, “for undetermined reasons,” the driver failed to properly negotiate a left curve in the roadway, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s accident report. The vehicle went off the roadway onto the shoulder before hitting a guardrail and overturning in the canal, according to the accident report.
Four victims were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office. Six others were transported to a local hospital, including two via helicopter, according to Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. Five people subsequently died at the hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
The deceased victims included six children — a 1-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy, two 5-year-old boys, an 8-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy — according to the accident report. Three women — ages 21, 30 and the 56-year-old driver — were also killed, according to the accident report.
The lone surviving passenger was identified by the accident report as 26-year-old Jorden Hall. He suffered serious injuries in the crash and remains hospitalized, according to the accident report.
“We have one survivor for a total of 10 victims including babies,” the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families during this heartbreaking incident.”
Fire rescue personnel, including divers, along with the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, responded to the scene, officials said.
The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office is investigating the cause of the crash.