CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A county School Board member wants to see a change in state law so that anyone who makes a threat against a school can face charges, regardless of how it's made.
- Inmate made verbal threat to shoot up Inverness school
- He can't be charged because threat wasn't written anywhere
- School Board member wants law to include verbal threats
The issue came to light after a Citrus County inmate made verbal threats to shoot up a school but won't face charges.
Officials say that in late July, Ryan Connell of Floral City told several people in the jail that he’d shoot up Inverness Primary School. But because those threats weren’t written and shared, the State Attorney’s Office said he couldn’t be charged as his verbal threat didn't break any laws.
"That was rather unsettling. It was disturbing to the school, it was disturbing to our students, our parents, our teachers, our entire community," School Board member Douglas Dodd said.
Dodd is also part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, a state panel convened after the deadly shooting in Parkland to come up with ways to prevent school shootings.
After Connell's threat, he wants the commission to discuss how to address verbal threats.
"Considering the world we live in today, if an individual makes verbal threats to shoot up a school, authorities need to have the ability to take action. They need to have the ability to make a criminal case or make an arrest," Dodd said.
The Citrus County Sheriff’s Office stressed that Connell cannot carry out any threat right now because he's in jail on unrelated charges.
But Dodd hopes this incident will prompt change.
"We want parents to know that we are acting in the best interest of their children and that safety is priority one," Dodd said.
The Sheriff’s Office is working with the Florida Sheriff’s Association and state legislators to address the verbal threat issue.
The next meeting of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission starts October 15.