NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Is it a harmless gesture, or a serious threat?
One East Tennessee high school student found out the hard way pointing a finger gun is loaded with consequences, thanks to two new state laws aimed at cracking down on school threats.
According to law enforcement, the student was caught on camera “reaching into the front of his waistband and acting like he was pulling out a firearm and shooting toward the front of the bus at middle/elementary students who were singing/chanting an ABC song,” the incident report said.
When the school resource officer asked the student why he made the gesture, the student reportedly said the kids singing were making him angry, so he responded by making that gesture, according to the report.
The high school student, who NewsNation affiliate WKRN is not naming, along with his school and district at his mother’s request, was suspended and charged with making threats of mass violence on schools, a Class E felony.
The student’s mother talked to WKRN on the condition of anonymity. “Now he’s been out of school for two weeks, and he’s behind in his classes, and it’s a big mess.”
His mother added her son isn’t violent.
“I asked him, ‘Why did you do that,’ and he said, ‘I was just joking around,'” his mother continued. “We don’t own guns. We have no guns in our house; a pellet gun, and you can’t even kill a squirrel with it. He doesn’t play shooter games, anything like that, and now we are fixing to have Homeland Security come into our home.”
According to the report, a special agent with the Tennessee Department of Homeland Security was notified of the incident.
The consequences the teen faces are a result of two new Tennessee laws aimed at cracking down on school threats — one that made threats of mass violence on school property a zero-tolerance offense, resulting in a year-long expulsion, and another that increased the penalty of making a school threat from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Rep. Bo Michell, D-Nashville, who sponsored the bill making it a felony to make a school threat, told News 2 in March of 2024 he drafted the bill after several threats were made against his own son’s school.
“As a parent, if you get those text messages from your child who is hiding in a storage room closet saying, ‘My teacher has a hammer in her hand and me and my friend have scissors, we’re ready,’ it would make a difference to you,” Michell said. “Too many people are experiencing the same thing, and I feel as a legislator, we need to act.”
However, the East Tennessee student’s mother believes her child’s punishment goes too far.
“There have been no notes sent out to the parents dictating what this new law is that our students need to be aware of,” the mother said. “I understand the severity of the school shootings and things like that. I absolutely do, and I want my kid to be safe when he does go to school, but I think some things are getting blown out of proportion.”
The mother is currently searching for an attorney or civil rights group to help with next legal steps. The teen has a disciplinary hearing with the school and a juvenile court hearing later this month.
WKRN reached out to the director of schools multiple times since Wed., Sept. 4 about the incident, but has yet to hear back.
