Connellsville student charged with making threats
A student at the Connellsville Area Career and Technical Center is facing criminal charges after allegedly making threats against students in a group text conversation Monday.
Cole Patrick Firestone, 18, of Normalville was arrested Tuesday on misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats and disorderly conduct.
“You’re going to get arrested. It’s plain and simple,” said Fayette County District Attorney Rich Bower of students who threaten harm. “There’s no other way to put it. You’re going to get arrested and go to jail, probably.”
In a message to parents, the district’s interim superintendent, David McDonald, said the threat was reported to school officials around 7:20 a.m. Tuesday. McDonald said police swiftly responded, conducting an investigation and taking one student into custody.
McDonald said that officials do not believe students were in any danger.
“Once again,” said McDonald, “the student simply stated they thought writing these statements were funny.”
State police said Firestone told investigators in an interview he sent a text threatening to “shoot up” the school, but intended it to be a joke.
Police searched Firestone’s home and did not find any weapons, they said.
Firestone is lodged in Fayette County Prison in lieu of a $10,000 bond set by Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr.
Parent Amanda Asbury heard about the threats and immediately texted her 16-year-old son at the tech center to make sure he was OK.
“Something has to be done about this before something actually does happen and it’s too late,” she said.
She supports placing armed guards in schools, and said Connellsville should increase its number of security guards and safety checks as students enter the school building. Her 13-year-old daughter attends the middle school, and she worries about sending her children to school every day.
She said she has had conversations with her children about what to do if a shooter enters the school, telling them to hide, cover their faces and turn their phones on silent.
Asbury added the school is taking control of the situation. She believes parents should also be held accountable when their children make threats, even if the student is 18.
“We need to do whatever it takes to protect our kids while they are in school,” she said.
Another district student was charged earlier this month with writing a threat in the girl’s bathroom at the high school. Officials said she also told them she thought it was funny to do.
Days after the threat was written in the high school’s girl’s bathroom, police and Rich Bower visited the district’s high and middle schools to reinforce to students that threats aren’t a joke, and those who make them will be prosecuted.
“None of this is funny. None of this is jokes,” Bower said shortly after Firestone’s arrest. “They’re all crying wolf after they get caught, and we take it very seriously. It’s not funny. It’s not a joke, and it can cause complete chaos.”
McDonald commended the student who came forward, and reiterated his earlier request that parents talk to their children.
“I encourage you as parents and guardians to continue to have hard conversations with your children regarding the seriousness of school safety and their roles in this process,” McDonald said. “If we all continue to work as a team and school community we will get through this troubling time that all schools across the country are facing.”