LYON TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A 15-year-old sophomore has been charged with a misdemeanor for writing a threatening note on the bathroom wall of an Oakland County high school.
Deputies were called around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday (Oct. 4) to South Lyon East High School on West 10 Mile Road in Lyon Township. They learned that someone had found a threatening note on a bathroom wall that said someone had a weapon and was going to shoot up the school.
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School remained in session, but a lockdown was implemented until students were released around 2 p.m. Deputies were at the scene for about 10 hours. They said they didn’t believe the threat to be credible, but classrooms were searched to make sure there were no weapons.
A 15-year-old sophomore at the high school told school officials and detectives that he had written the threat and then reported it to administrators, according to authorities. He was arrested Wednesday.
“As I have said from the beginning, if you make a threat against a school or, for that matter, any institution, we will do everything in our power to hold you to account,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said. “The anxiety and the fear these threats cause is substantial, even if the threat is not credible.”
During a probable cause conference Thursday, a juvenile court referee allowed the Wixom boy to leave the Oakland County Children’s Village with an electronic tether. He must be confined to his home and isn’t allowed to go near school property, use social media, or access the internet without being monitored by his parents.
The referee concluded there’s probable cause that the boy made the threat. Prosecutors have issued a misdemeanor charge of threatening to commit violence with a firearm, explosive, or other dangerous weapon against students or staff on school property.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Oct. 12.
School officials said the student is suspended, and they will seek to expel him.
