Teenager arrested in threat at school

A 15-year-old boy was arrested Monday, accused of threatening to hurt students at Fountain-Fort Carson High School, the Fountain Police Department said.

"We had some folks come in Sunday telling us they had overheard this young man making threats," police Sgt. Jess Freeman said. "We had a similar situation with that same young man in the past (Sept. 23). He made statements like ‘Don't come to school this day or that.' But we had nothing to charge him with in the past. We had no victims.

"This time, we had people come forward who actually heard him and felt frightened."

The youth, who is a student at the school, was arrested Monday and released to the custody of his parents, Freeman said. There was no disruption of school, such as a lockdown, authorities said.

"It's classes as usual," said Dave Roudebush, assistant superintendent for Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8.

The student allegedly made some threats against an individual student, Roudebush said, prompting Monday's arrest.

The arrest came after a weekend of frantic calls and text messages between students and parents of Fountain-Fort Carson and Mesa Ridge high schools left families at both schools on edge. Apparently, Freeman said, it was a case of rumors getting out of control.

"Somebody sent out a text message and it got forwarded and forwarded," Freeman said. "These messages started going around. Somehow Mesa Ridge got mentioned. But it was never involved. They had the wrong school."

The messages reached Fountain police on Sunday.

"All of a sudden, we were getting all these phone calls," Freeman said.

The key to the arrest was the willingness of witnesses to the threat to come forward.

Freeman said the previous investigation convinced police the youth didn't have the access to weapons or means to carry off a threat.

"I think he's just a confused kid," Freeman said.

Roudebush said the school's security system "worked as it supposed to." And he called Monday "just another day" at school.

And he praised the suspect's parents for their cooperation.

"The parents and the school have worked closely over past couple months," Roudebush said.

The youth will be charged in juvenile court with obstructing a school facility, he said.