Risk protection order extended for Sarasota Middle School student who made alleged threats

A Sarasota judge approved the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office petition for a risk protection order against the Sarasota Middle School student who made alleged threats against a local elementary school.

Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Charles E. Williams ruled the Sheriff's Office presented clear and convincing evidence that the risk protection order should remain in effect and ordered that the student should not be able to readily access firearms.

Williams also determined that since the student was examined by a neurophysiologist the day before the hearing, the child wouldn't require another mental health examination.

Due to the age of the minor, The Herald-Tribune will not publish the names of the student or their family members for safety reasons.

Previous reporting: Sarasota middle school student suspended, held for alleged threat to local elementary school

In other court news: Osprey man sentenced to 15 years in prison for hit-and-run that killed Pine View student

During Friday's hearing, the student and his parents sat before the judge with their attorney, Justin Drach, calling in via teleconference for the hearing. Drach argued the student was illegally held under the Baker Act as he doesn't suffer from any mental illnesses but is just a 12-year-old boy with ADHD, and he doesn't pose a threat to himself or others, according to testimony by an adult and pediatric neuropsychologist.

General Counsel for SCSO Alyssa Claseman said the risk protection order should be approved, pointing towards testimony from a school police officer who said the student has had troubling behavior in the past, including having to have aids assigned to him to separate him from big crowds of students and previously bringing a homemade wooden shank to school, as well as the detailed maps that were discovered.

In August, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office was called to perform an evaluation of the 12-year-old student by Sarasota County School Police following the student's suspension for repeated behavioral problems.

While searching the student's home, with the permission of his parents, deputies found two hand-drawn maps of Lakeview Elementary School which supposedly noted the location of security cameras, and the classrooms of two teachers and included the words "destroy" and "eliminate" next to the teachers' names, according to previous Sarasota Herald-Tribune reporting and court documents.

The student was taken to Bayside Center for Behavior Health for treatment under Florida's Baker Act. The act gives police and doctors the power to place an individual into involuntary mental health treatment for up to 72 hours as a way to protect the person from harming themselves or others.

Read more about the Baker Act: Police can’t diagnose mental illness. So when does the Baker Act come in?

A motion was filed on Aug. 18 and granted by a Sarasota judge, ordering all firearms and ammunition in the home be surrendered to law enforcement.

Community members raised concerns over gun safety and school safety at a Sarasota County School Board meeting Tuesday in which the Board approved a new communication plan and discussed the threat made to the elementary school.

Transcript of detectives' interview reveal student made maps as "prank"

In a motion filed on behalf of the student on Wednesday, Drach included a transcript of the interview that sheriff's detectives conducted with the student when they initially spoke to him on Aug. 17.

In the transcript, the student tells detectives that the maps they found were for pranks he and another individual had made when they were "messing around," and that they had planned on bringing a fart machine and fart spray into the school. However, the student said his father made him get rid of both items.

The teen also said that he'd drawn different colored zones on one of the maps, indicating where he and the second individual had to walk quietly or where the playground was, and that it didn't have anything to do with cameras or pranks.

In a section of the interview highlighted red, the detectives pressed the student about what he meant when he wrote "destroy" and "eliminate" on the maps he'd drawn, with the teen repeating he wanted to prank the teachers, and that he used the language because he had heard the terms used in video games he plays.

"By destroy or eliminate, I don't mean anything like hurt. I mean, like, prank," the student said in the interview.

The student told detectives in the interview that both teachers were really nice. When further questioned to share how he felt about the teachers, the student said at the beginning of fourth grade, he had to miss school for a few weeks since he was sick and his father later had COVID-19, which caused him to fall behind in class.

The student claimed his teacher didn't help him when he returned, and that was the reason his grades began to slip.

"(I) didn't mean anyone any harm," the student said. "They're all in all really nice teachers."

SCSO Detective Hayden Gallof, who investigated the case, said on the stand Friday that based on the accumulation of the maps and the student's knowledge of where the firearms were in the house, he believed a risk protection order needed to be filed.

Gallof said it was deemed that without treatment, the student would cause harm to others based on the maps and unsecured weapons that were found in the home.

However, Gallof was adamant he was not an expert on mental illness and that the student was placed under the Baker Act because it was believed by the detective that he was a danger to himself or others based on speaking with the parents, the interview with the student, the maps and the access to firearms.

Pediatric neuropsychologist testifies student has ADHD

Dr. Gesenia Sloan-Pena, an adult and pediatric neuropsychologist, was called to testify by Drach on behalf of the student, believes he is not a threat to himself or others. While the 12-year-old does have poor judgment and decision-making skills and has difficulty identifying that his actions have consequences, he doesn’t have depression, suicidal ideations or homicidal ideations, she concluded.

"What he needs is psychotherapy and medication to help him learn to stop and think about his actions and ask himself, “Is this a smart idea?” Sloan-Pena said.

“He is not a threat to himself or anyone else,” Sloan-Pena said. When further asked if the student should be given access to firearms, Sloan-Pena said she doesn’t think any child should be given access to firearms.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota judge extends risk protection order for middle school student