A juvenile in Clovis was sentenced for a threat that caused trouble for schools across the country. Prosecutors made a statement on Monday morning.
The juvenile’s name was not mentioned in the statement. He was sentenced to seven days in custody, one year of supervised probation, 50 hours of community service, and he was ordered to write a letter of apology.
In April, officials responded to a threat on social media. It was a picture of a young man holding an AR-15 rifle and the caption “F*** CHS.” Because CHS was ambiguous, it caused alarms at many schools outside of Clovis.
The full statement from prosecutors is as follows:
Ninth Judicial District Attorney, Andrea Reeb, announced that on May 25, 2018, the child who posted a threat to CHS on SnapChat was adjudicated by the Honorable Fred Van Soelen. The child will spend seven days in the Curry County Juvenile Detention Center and then be placed on supervised probation for one year. During probation the child will be required to complete 50 hours of Community Work Service, write a letter of apology to the school and community, attend counseling, and complete the Juvenile Community Corrections Program.
On April 5, 2018, Clovis Police received a call regarding a possible school shooting threat. Officers obtained a SnapChat showing a young man holding AR-15 rifle. The caption on the image read “F*** CHS I’m going out with a bang.” Police were able to quickly trace the individual who made the post and make contact with him. Due to the ambiguity of the school name mentioned in the post, it quickly went viral and resulted in dozens of schools throughout the nation and Canada having to take precautions for their students’ safety.
The Honorable Fred Van Soelen expressed concerns about the difficulty of fitting this type of behavior into the crimes as currently defined in New Mexico. “This is something that should be a crime like a bomb threat because of its impact on the community,” said Judge Van Soelen. He went on and noted, “This had a terrible effect on the local community and other communities.”
Arwen Gaddis, Assistant District Attorney prosecuted the case for the State. Rick Queener, Criminal Defense Attorney, represented the child.