According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, 10-year-old Aaron Almenares was arrested for threatening to shoot students after getting into a disagreement about football versus soccer.
The fifth grader used Snapchat to exchange insults. The arrest report reveals a portion of the message, “I’m killing him? Bringing a gun to school tomorrow? Gonna kill –”
A concerned mother shared screenshots of the messages with a teacher, who reported the incident to Lehigh Elementary School Principal Jackson Morgan.
Detectives went to Almenares’ home and met with Eliecer Almenares, Aaron’s father, who said his weapons were secured in his room. According to the report, Eliecer stated that Aaron does not have access.
Photos were taken of Aaron’s room, but when detectives tried to get a sworn statement from him, Eliecer stopped the interview and told his son to remain silent.
Almenares was arrested on probable cause for written electronic threats to kill. He was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center.
The email sent on behalf of the school reads, in part:
In the spirit of open communication, I want to let you know a student was arrested overnight for allegedly threatening violence against our school.
We do not tolerate this behavior, so the student involved will be disciplined per the Code of Conduct on top of the legal consequences.