*This story has been updated
NKyTribune staff
Early Tuesday morning, Boone County Sheriff’s deputies took a third male juvenile into custody for threats directed at Larry A. Ryle High School.
Deputies took into custody a 15 year old male juvenile, charged him with Terroristic Threatening 2nd Degree and lodged him at the Campbell County Juvenile Detention Center.
At approximately 9:30 p.m. Monday, concerned students and parents began reporting another social media post which described a threat directed at Ryle High School. The threat stated in part that Ryle High School would be a blood bath soon and that the person making the threat would “pop every mother [expletive] we can too”.
This threat appeared to be retaliation in response to the 17 year old male juvenile who was taken into custody and charged on 12/10/2018.
Deputies acted quickly and worked closely with school administrators in an attempt to gather information in order to identify the person who posted the threat. The threat appeared to be a screen shot image from Snapchat but was displayed and used in a post on Instagram. Deputies were able to make contact with a person of interest and after conducting an interview of that subject, deputies obtained a full confession.
The 15 year old male juvenile who was taken into custody this morning does not attend Ryle High School, but is a student at Cooper High School. He did not have access to weapons.
The male juvenile stated to deputies that he does not know the 17 year old male juvenile who was previously charged despite the fact that the threat suggested differently. The male juvenile went on to state that he thought about the entire situation and decided to publish the threatening post anyway.
Charges in a criminal complaint are accusations only. It is the government’s burden to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
Original story
Two youths have been charged with Terroristic Threatening 2nd Degree in connection with incidents at Larry A. Ryle High School in Boone County.
Early Monday morning Boone County Sheriff’s deputies took a 17-year-old male juvenile into custody. He was lodged at the Campbell County Juvenile Detention Center.
At about 10 p.m. on Sunday the Boone County Sheriff’s Office received multiple calls from concerned students, parents and citizens after a picture began circulating on social media referring to a possible shooting incident directed towards students at Ryle High School in Union.
According to a release from the Boone County Sheriff’s office the social media picture showed what appeared to be a male wearing dark clothes and holding a handgun with a flag emoji covering the face of the pictured subject. The threat stated in part, “If ryle [sic] kids continue to pursue me, you will be capped….”
Boone County deputies worked closely with the School Resource Officer at Ryle High School and Boone County School administrators to quickly identify the subject.
The Sheriff’s office statement indicates deputies made contact with the male juvenile, who stated that he did post the threatening picture to social media but that the picture of the person holding a gun was not him.
He also stated that the picture of the person with a gun was found on the internet and the purpose of the picture was to make other students think that it was actually him holding the handgun. The male juvenile stated that he posted the threat in response to being picked on by Ryle High School students and that he was going to possibly fight another student after school armed with a weapon (knife).
Monday afternoon, Boone County Sheriff’s deputies took a 15-year-old male juvenile into custody and also charged him with Terroristic Threatening 2nd Degree. He is also lodged at the Campbell County Juvenile Detention Center.
While this is a separate case from the earlier arrest, it is a continuation of that incident.
The Boone County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer and Ryle High School officials were made aware of a conversation involving two (2) students that attend the school.
The 15-year-old male was not in attendance Monday, but was communicating with a student who was present at Ryle High School.
The male juvenile stated that he was upset that others would not keep quiet about the earlier incident involving the 17 year old male juvenile and made threats to shoot those who can’t “keep their mouths shut.”
Upon receiving notice of this conversation the student that was present at school, out of fear, immediately reported it and deputies made contact with the male juvenile at his residence. Deputies later obtained a full confession from the male juvenile.
According to a statement from the Boone County Sheriff’s office, the 15-year-old male juvenile does not know or have any known affiliation with the 17-year old-male charged Monday morning. Deputies did not locate any firearms in the possession of the 15-year-old male juvenile and at no time was he on school property after making the threats., according to the statement.
Sheriff Michael A. Helmig deployed additional resources to Ryle High School Monday afternoon as a safety precaution. At this time there are no other known threats directed at Ryle High School or any other Boone County School.
The Boone County Sheriff’s office reminds emphasized that charges in a criminal complaint are accusations only. It is the government’s burden to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
