'We have a zero tolerance policy': three more Carson City juveniles arrested for terror threats Wednesday

In what is becoming a grim trend, three additional middle-school aged children have been arrested for making shooting threats, all of which occurred on Wednesday.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong sat down Thursday morning to discuss the recent uptick in threats, and the arrests that have followed.

"Last year, we didn't have three (shooting threat arrests) that happened in one year, let alone one day," Furlong said. "Some people might think they're copy cats - they see someone get arrested, and they do it, too. But what we're finding is these are all isolated incidents."

Furlong said that the juveniles arrested have all been cooperative with law enforcement, and when asked why they've made these threats, their responses have ranged from "I just thought it would be fun to scare everyone," to "I didn't mean it," to "It was just an overheard conversation," and everything in between.

"In every case, they've been cooperative, which is even more frustrating," Furlong said. "If they didn't mean it, and they're cooperative, then why was the statement made?"

What it comes down to, Furlong believes, is an issue of impulse control.

"They all know it's bad, and that they shouldn't have done it, but they did it anyway," Furlong said.

When sheriff's deputies showed up at the doors of parents explaining what had occurred, and asking to search their student's room, Furlong said parents were for the most part cooperative.

"Of course we got some push back," Furlong said. "It's hard, because these are, for the most part, 13-year-olds, and their parents ask 'Do you really have to put them in hand cuffs, do you really have to take them to juvenile hall?' But the fact is, we have a zero tolerance policy, and every single threat needs to be investigated."

At the end of these investigations, Furlong said, there was not a single credible threat of violence, meaning the students had no access to weapons, or any true intent to produce violence against other students.

Furlong said there's a fine line of when law enforcement needs to get involved in situations that occur between juveniles on school property, but there is no question when it involves threats of gun violence.

"Some people ask, why can't these situations be handled by the school?" Furlong said. "Because every threat (of a shooting) is taken as if it is a true threat."

Furlong said that, while School Resource Officers (SRO) provide many resources to students and staff, the main reason they are on campus every day is because of the nationwide prevalence of school shootings.

Sgt. Taylor Mieras is the supervisor of the SRO unit who works directly in the schools, and said that, despite the increase in threats, they have actually seen a decrease in crime overall this year compared to previous years. One of the reasons Mieras believes has decreased issues is the recent phone ban across all district schools.

"First, you have the peer pressure with these fights, where they're posting all over social media and they say, 'I didn't really even want to fight this guy but now I've got to," he said. "Second, you have a huge decrease in the conflict and disrespect between the students and teachers."

This year, Mieras said, he believes there's only been around five fights at the high school compared with last year's recorded 12 during the same time period.

Both Mieras and Furlong agree that the most important thing now to stop these arrests from occurring is for families to become more involved with their students, and to have a sit-down conversation about the consequences of what they say.

"Words have meaning," Mieras said. "And they also have consequences."

"These incidents are all happening in the middle-school age bracket," Furlong said. "This is the age where they're getting into that social setting, they're growing, popularity is coming into play, hormones are coming into play - things in life are opening up. Which is why family discussions are so important. We're in a time where maybe not everybody sits down at six o'clock around the old kitchen table for dinner, but there are opportunities to turn the TV off and say, 'we need to talk.'"

Furlong said that, unlike a lot of conversations one might have with their middle-school aged child, this conversation doesn't need to be awkward.

"This is not an uncomfortable conversation; we're not talking about puberty or sex or anything like that. This is a very comfortable conversation about appropriate voiced language."

"You don't say bomb on a plane, and you don't say you're going to shoot up the school," Mieras said.

Furlong said these are not isolated incidents; arrests are surging across the country for students who are making gun threats towards their school or peers.

"Across the country, this is one of the most serious conversations."

Furlong said that the thing he wants the community to understand is that, these are not 'bad kids' that are getting in trouble for threats but rather, good kids who are saying bad things.

"They have no impulse control, their frontal lobe is still developing," Furlong said. "But what has changed in our lives is the onset of school violence what we older folks ever thought of, and it's very real. That's what everybody has to understand, that's why we have to have a zero tolerance."

Mieras said that, within the schools, there have been huge increases to supporting student's mental health and wellness, whether it's resources, outreach, attendance support, counseling support, social workers, and more.

"There's so much more wrapped into the schools now," Mieras said. "The school district is really pushing services for the kids, and it's having a positive impact."

Mieras and Furlong both agreed they wish they knew the reason for the recent surge in threats.

"If I had the answer, it would have been addressed after the first one," Mieras said. "We're spinning in circles trying to think of different (reasons) this is happening."

Mieras said when it comes to threats, it is so important to bring reports directly to law enforcement simply because they are able to investigate the issues during times the school district is not.

"Law enforcement is 24 hours," Mieras said. "We can get out there immediately. Patrol can go to the house when (SROs) are off duty. Then they can deem what resources they are going to need. By just calling dispatch, it speeds up the process and gets the investigation going a lot faster."

Mieras said investigating quickly is the difference between students feeling safe at school, and families calling the sheriff's office asking if they should send their student to school or not because a rumor had already been spreading.

"The longer it's out there, the more it's going to spread," Mieras said. "If we've addressed the situation right away, it won't spread to 500 different households."

Mieras and Furlong said law enforcement works hand-in-hand with the school district when it comes to investigating threats, and if students don't feel comfortable speaking directly with SROs or their parents, they can utilize SafeVoice or speak to any district staff member - including anonymously.

"We need the community to know that we are going to take these threats seriously," Furlong said. "And we hope that families will have conversations so that these types of threats stop occurring. Having to arrest these students, and having them being removed from school, has a huge detrimental effect on them when it comes to academics, especially at this age."

To learn more about SafeVoice, click here.

If you have any information relating to threats involving Carson City schools or students, please contact Sgt. Mieras 775-283-7809.