Juvenile charged for making threats to shoot up Chelsea school
BOSTON, October 24, 2023 – A 14-year-old boy was arraigned Monday in Boston Juvenile Court for making threats to shoot up the Shore Educational Collaborative school in Chelsea after being involved in a fight with another student last week, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
The juvenile was charged with making a bomb threat and held on $750 bail, along with home confinement with GPS monitoring except for an alternative school placement. The juvenile was also ordered to stay away from Shore Educational Collaborative and refrain from social media.
At about 9:30 a.m. on October 17, Chelsea police responded to the Shore Educational Collaborative for a threats call. A school official told officers that a juvenile was involved in a fight with a student at the school the day prior where he attacked the student with a hanger. School staff were able to break up the fight and the juvenile screamed “Dead, dead, everyone is dead! Going to come back with a gun and shoot everyone up!”
The police were called after the incident but the school placed the juvenile on an emergency removal pending a disciplinary hearing.
The school official called police the next day because a student informed him the same juvenile had posted a picture with guns on social media saying he was coming to school and will “shoot it up.” The official also mentioned several other students saw the post and did not come to school that day.
“We have seen far too much school violence across our nation and those incidents force us to treat school threats with extreme seriousness and caution. No one should feel unsafe or threatened when they are attending school or work. Prevention is key here and it is always best to intervene before it escalates,” Hayden said.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.
James Borghesani, Chief of Communications