NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The crackdown on school threats can be harsh and is meant to send a strong message: Don't do it.
The day after the Antioch High School shooting the Metro Nashville Police Department arrested six juveniles for making school threats.
The father of one child said his young son made a mistake and paid an awful price.
The FBI and MNPD both came to Dupont Tyler Middle School one day after the Antioch shooting and arrested a 12-year-old boy.
"My kid was taken from me for an entire day — leveled with charges of threat of mass violence and put on probation," said Kyle Caldwell.
He is still trying to process what happened.
His 12-year-old son came across a post threatening a school shooting and shared it.
Caldwell knows that was a mistake, but his son thought he was warning others.
"He's just a great kid. No trouble ... just out of innocence he's informing."
The post came one day after the Antioch shooting and was immediately flagged.
Authorities went to the school, questioned and then arrested the 12-year-old, taking him to juvenile detention.
He was allowed no contact with his father until the next day when the child apparently agreed to probation.
"He was unadvised by his father — parental consent out the window," said Caldwell.
He supports cracking down on school threats, but his son didn't make one and yet he was locked up and now will be expelled.
"Again, it is a very hard crackdown."
Legal analyst Nick Leonardo said what happened here may seem harsh, but under the new state law it's the reality.
"If there is anything positive about this, it's the swift response by authorities. However, the consequences will have individuals in trouble that didn't mean anything or intend anything.
These days what happened with Caldwell's son is not the exception, but the rule.
It's possible state lawmakers will modify the new law to close some loopholes that have caused problems across the state.
But Leonardo said the best advice for parents is for them to make sure their children understand the seriousness of make threats or even sharing them.
We reached out to the Davidson County District Attorney's Office.
They stated that the Juvenile Court and the detention center control contact with the parent once the youth is arrested and that the District Attorney's Office has nothing to do with this.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nick.beres@newschannel5.com
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