VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Two Volusia County children were arrested on back‑to‑back days this week, accused of making violent threats against their schools.
A 10‑year‑old boy was taken into custody Wednesday after he allegedly wrote a message on a classroom whiteboard claiming he had brought a gun to school and creating a list of “people I’m gonna kill.”
The next day, authorities arrested an 11‑year‑old DeLand Middle School student, whom investigators say used a school account to send electronic messages threatening to shoot people — allegedly for the second time.
[BELOW: 11-year-old in jail again over threat to DeLand teachers, sheriff says]
In both cases, deputies took the juveniles into custody and brought them to the Volusia Family Resource Center instead of the adult jail,.
After the youths are photographed and fingerprinted, they meet with social service providers who may recommend mental health counseling or other assistance under the center’s slogan, “Change Starts Here.”
News 6 typically does not identify juveniles accused of crimes unless they are charged as adults.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, however, continued his practice this week of posting videos of the arrests — including the children’s names and faces — on the sheriff’s office Facebook page as part of what he calls a deterrence strategy.
“For me, it’s absolute zero tolerance,” Chitwood said in an interview. “It’s ‘Scared Straight’ all over again. That’s exactly what this is.”
After they are taken into custody, juveniles are held in cells at the resource center while intake is completed.
“While they’re sitting in the jail cell, one of the things we try to do is break the cycle,” Chitwood said. “There (on the wall) is our motto: ‘The opportunity to turn your life around is now.’”