SAN ANTONIO – In late March, San Antonio police were called to the School of Science and Technology - Hill Country to investigate complaints that a 6th grader had threatened to harm his classmates days earlier.
Shelly Hite Quinn, the mother of the accused child, told KSAT she got a call from the school’s vice-principal informing her that she needed to pick up her son because he stated he had a gun in his locker.
By the time investigators had assembled their report, the allegations had morphed dramatically.
The boy, who KSAT is not naming because he is a minor, is accused of referencing the Nashville school shooting that occurred the same week, in which seven people including the shooter were killed.
He is also accused of telling students he had guns in his locker along with knives, bullets and magazines, an SAPD incident report obtained by KSAT Investigates shows.
The child, who had attended the school for less than a week, claimed to be the son of Satan and was attempting to recruit classmates to help him kill fellow students, the report alleges.
After the threats were made, several students did not show up for class because their parents were scared, the report states.
No weapons or ammunition were found.
A spokeswoman for SST - Hill Country confirms Quinn withdrew her son from the school before he could be formally expelled. The spokeswoman told KSAT that he is not welcome back on campus.
Child was a frequent target of bullies
Quinn’s son, who has Asperger’s syndrome and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, has been a frequent target of bullies, school records viewed by KSAT show.
He has bounced between public schools, a private school and virtual learning, said his mother, who provided records showing her child succeeds academically but struggles with the social aspects of attending class.
“He has a hard time focusing. He’s very impulsive,” said Quinn.
In early April, before sunrise, Quinn said deputy United States Marshals and Medina County Sheriff’s deputies showed up at their home with a felony warrant for her son’s arrest.
“Full on gear, bulletproof vests, rifles, flashlights,” said Quinn, who added that between 14-16 law enforcement personnel were on or around her property.
She said members of the task force wanted to go into the child’s room and wake him up, but after Quinn pleaded with them, she said she was allowed to go in and break the news to him.
The child, who is charged with making a terroristic threat, made an appearance hours later in Bexar County Juvenile District Court.
Quinn said he was in wrist, waist and ankle shackles during his initial court appearance.
“The noise of those shackles, it was horrible,” said Quinn.
In late May, while most 6th graders were wrapping up their final week of classes, the boy was back in district court for a pretrial hearing.
He is tentatively scheduled to go to trial at the end of July.
“I think that the situation got way out of hand,” said Quinn. “My husband and I are very understanding in the situation. We know the severity of what happened. We don’t condone it, we understand it, we’re compassionate towards it.”
She said her child should face some sort of penalty for his actions, but is worried about what the next few months will look like for him.
“He’s terrified the police are going to come get him (again). He’s having night terrors, nightmares,” said Quinn.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the case, since the defendant is a minor.
His arrest is part of a troubling trend across the U.S.
School threats increased by 60 percent between 2021 and last year, data compiled by the FBI shows.