A Belleview school resource was called for help Monday after reports surfaced of a third-grade student making comments about “blowing up the school.”
The school resource officer at Belleview Santos Elementary School, who is a Marion County sheriff’s deputy, was asked to meet with the 9-year-old boy, along with the principal and the dean. The student told them he was “calling another student’s name” but denied making any comments about blowing the school up, a sheriff’s office report states.
The deputy then spoke with the student’s teacher at the school, located at 9600 U.S. Hwy. 441. She said she had given all of her students points for “being on task” except for the 9-year-old and one of his classmates. She said he became upset and said, “I hate this school. I’m going to bring a bomb and blow up this school,” the report says, adding that another student reported hearing the boy say, “I hope someone blows up this school so we can run away.
The deputy and the school’s dean spoke with the boy’s grandmother, who is his guardian, and made her aware of what had taken place. She was told that the boy would be issued a “child at risk referral” and the school would handle any discipline related to the incident.