Florida Sheriff Parades ‘Pint-Sized Perps,’ 10 and 11, Over Alleged School Shooting Threats

Florida’s Volusia County has seen the arrest of two school students within two days, after both threatened to kill and shoot their teachers and classmates. Micah Swinnie,10, and Anthony Steward,11, were taken into custody on March 4 and 5, respectively, after they made violent threats at their schools.

The Volusia Sheriff’s Office arrested Swinnie, a student at Pride Elementary School, after he allegedly wrote on his classroom whiteboard that he was going to bring a gun to the school. He also allegedly made a ‘list of people he was going to kill’ and left it on a desk.

When officers handcuffed Swinnie and walked him out of the school, the juvenile said he did not actually mean the threat. Meanwhile, his parents were informed and said Swinnie did not have access to any firearm.

The families of the students who were on Swinnie’s ‘list’ were also notified. After the video of Swinnie being handcuffed was posted on social media by the sheriff’s office, his lawyer, Jacob Stuart Jr., claimed that the child is autistic, and the clip should be taken down.

Stuart said in a statement to WESH 2 News, “An autistic 10-year-old child was arrested, handcuffed, and placed in a cage — and it has now turned into social media clickbait because of law enforcement. Every hour this video remains online continues the harm to this child.”

A day later, Steward, a student at the DeLand Middle School, was marched out of a patrol car after allegedly hacking a fellow student’s Gradebook Communications account and sending a threatening message to seven teachers. According to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, the message read, “imma shoot you.”

Police said this was not the first time Steward had made threats. He was already in a diversion program for sending an “imma shoot you” message to community members at Southwestern Middle School in October 2025. Steward had hijacked another classmate’s Gradebook Communications account that time as well.

As with Swinnie, a video of Steward being handcuffed and marched out of a police car has also been shared on social media. While some have expressed concerns about the impact of these videos on the children, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said that if someone makes violent threats, law enforcement will take action.

Chitwood wrote on his social media account, “I know some want to make excuses and coddle the select few who choose to make threats. You can pat them on the head and tell them everything's going to be alright. My job is to look out for everyone else.” Chitwood highlighted that these threats not only waste time and resources but also increase the chances of a real violent incident.

He added, “These idiotic threats disrupt our schools, eat up time and resources, and increase the chances a real threat slips through the cracks. If you can threaten to shoot 7 teachers, you can take a perp walk. Parents, discipline your kids, and I won't have to.”