WOOD COUNTY, Ohio — Following the tragic shooting in Oxford, Michigan last month, several prosecutors in Michigan are considering criminal charges for some students accused of making threats against schools.
WTOL 11 spoke with the Wood County prosecutor to look into how he makes the decision whether to charge a juvenile with making a school threat.
Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson said with any potential school threat, law enforcement will work with the prosecutor's office to determine if charges should be filed, what charges would be filed and begin the criminal justice process from there.
He explained not every case will be charged, but they are investigated.
"It's important that school officials, but frankly most particularly parents are having these conversations with their students that law enforcement and the schools take these things very, very seriously."
Following the Oxford school shooting on Nov. 30, numerous school threats have been made in our area.
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Dobson said there is a difference between making false alarms that can be considered criminal conduct and reporting something you've seen or heard. But he explained it's better to be safe than sorry.
"We want people to report what they see and what they hear," he said. "So if they report something that they've seen and heard and it ultimately does not turn out to be true or turns out to be accurate or that it's not going to happen, that's certainly not a criminal offense."
Juveniles who make a school threat could face a wide range of consequences, including probation, juvenile detention or mental health programming.
And if it's not criminal, schools can administer their own discipline as well.
"The consequences can be very, very serious and really affect somebody's life almost right off the bat," explained Dobson.