The sheriff of Florida, whose officers allegedly perp-walked a 10-year-old child and publicized his mugshot after accusing him of threatening a mass shooting at his elementary school, claims the public humiliation is scaring kids straight.
‘The great majority of parents approach me and say: “Thank you for taking the time to do so. My youngster is now terrified of the repercussions “On Tuesday, Sheriff Carmine Marceno told DailyMail.com, ‘ ‘It is altering our behavior. It’s influencing how kids think.’
The sheriff of Florida, whose officers allegedly perp-walked a 10-year-old child and publicized his mugshot after accusing him of threatening a mass shooting at his elementary school, claims the public humiliation is scaring kids straight.
‘The vast majority of parents come forward and tell me: “Thank you for doing that. My child is now afraid of the consequences,”‘ Sheriff Carmine Marceno told DailyMail.com on Tuesday. ‘It is changing the way we behave. It’s changing the way children think.’
Marquez sent a text to a friend joking that he would commit a mass shooting at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral.
The boy’s alleged text read: ‘I scammed my friend’ and included a Google image of money, according to his arrest report.
‘I bought this,’ he added a few seconds later, a included an image of four assault rifles.
Marquez then stated: ‘Get ready for water day,’ referencing a recent school-sponsored event in which students participate in water activities, like playing in sprinklers.
‘We have a ten-year-old, a fifth-grader, that sends text messages that circulate. Pictures of wads of money. Pictures of rifles and written threats after that,’ Marceno said of the text during his interview Tuesday with DailyMail.com.
Marquez’s threatening text was sent to another child and was forwarded on. The recipient’s parents then texted Marceno, prompting the investigation.
‘We immediately, not waiting one second, investigate that. All hands of deck. Child safety is number one,’ the sheriff, whose county is home to 118 schools and more than 100,000 students, explained, adding: ‘That every threat is real until proven otherwise.’
The fake threat was the second time in a week Lee County was rocked by the threat of violence against a school. A woman on Thursday said she would go to a high school graduation in the area with a bomb strapped to her chest.
Then, on Monday, – the same day Marquez’s mugshot was released – Corey Anderson, an 18-year-old from Hillsborough County, Florida, was arrested and charged with a felony after he posted a photo of a rifle, handgun and tactical vest online and captioned the image: ‘Hey Siri, directions to the nearest school’.
All three threats came after 19 children and two teachers were shot to death by a sick 18-year-old gunman in Uvalde, Texas. Salvador Ramos blasted his grandmother
Marceno defended the boy’s public arrest, saying that ‘fake threats’ result in ‘real consequences.’
‘If a 10-year-old, 12-year-old, 18-year-old presses the trigger, the aftermath is the same,’ he said. ‘As a sheriff I have to make certain that we leave no stone unturned and do everything possible to protect our children.’
‘Doesn’t matter who it is, you commit a felony, you write a threat to commit a mass shooting in a school – the mugshot, the picture, it’s all going up there because the days of people trying to protect or hide are done.’
He said officials ‘cannot ignore red flags’ and ‘have to look at everything as real.’
The sheriff, citing last week’s massacre in Texas, also argued that parents need to engage in discussion with their children about mass shootings and the messages they are conveying online.
‘As you see unfortunately in Texas, the text is sent. People are communicating. There’s a TikTok video, then days or weeks later we have the event.’
He also warned anyone who attempts a school shooting: ‘You don’t get to come into one of my schools in my county and present deadly force. Because we meet deadly force with delay force, without one second, without hesitation.
‘If you think you’re going to come and kill a child or a faculty member, think again. We will kill you immediately.’
During an interview with W Radio on Monday, Marceno also shared that he also holds the fifth-grader’s parents accountable for the threat, as he would with the parents of any child who threatens a massacre.
‘We hold the parents accountable,’ the sheriff argued. ‘When your son or daughter are online don’t just leave them in a room online. We’ve seen juveniles researching on Columbine and how to commit a mass shooting and buy guns on the black market.’
‘Nothing is off limits today. I need the parents to be parents, guardians to be guardians and make sure they monitor their children. If we need to get their child help, if they document they have mental illness, we need to get them the help they need to make certain that we’re protecting everyone.’
The sheriff’s office confirmed to DailyMail.com that as of Monday, no charges have been filed against Marquez’s parents, as there ‘are no applicable ones for them.’
Authorities also confirmed the 10-year-old has no prior criminal history. It is unclear if he had a history of mental illness.