(WSVN) - A Cape Coral father is speaking out in his son’s defense after police arrested the 10-year-old boy for threatening to shoot up a school.
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is protect my kids, and now, he’s possibly in danger in a place that is really just a prison for children,” said the father who asked to remain anonymous.
The boy was arrested after sending a series of pictures of AR-styled weapons to a classmate.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said all the combined elements of the investigation constitute a threat to students at an elementary school in Cape Coral.
“Rifles, a written threat to commit a mass shooting, what if that was ‘a fake threat’ and we do not look into that?” said Marceno. “What if someone doesn’t call that in, and someone ignores that red flag?”
After deputies arrested the fifth grader, the sheriff posted a video on the Lee County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page for all to see.
His father spoke to WINK News in Fort Myers about the events following the disturbing posts.
“They just took him without any notice, and he looked at me and hugged me and said he was sorry, and they took him away,” said the father as he tried to hold back tears.
The 10-year-old’s father said his son is not capable of carrying out a mass shooting.
“So, personally, he is a child, and so I don’t really know why children do what they do,” said the father. “I mean, I remember being young and doing things and not really knowing why I did them. I didn’t ask my son because they were Google stock photos.”
The child’s father has talked to his son about guns and gun safety. He served in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army Infantry Division and admits he keeps firearms in his home.
“So, I’ve made it very clear that gun safety is very important in my home. I’ve made sure that my children understand what that means as far as like, what it looks like to clear a weapon, what it looks like. Whether or not he knows how to use a weapon? The answer is absolutely.”
As of now, the 10-year-old is still in juvenile detention. His father is allowed to visit him twice a week.
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