A high school student in northwest Florida was kicked out of school for essentially lying about how a gunman was going to come and shoot people at his school.
Sometime last week, the Walton County High School student began a rumor that there was going to be a shooting at the school. When school officials linked the rumor to the boy, they suspended him on Friday.
Not satisfied with merely suspending the student, after an "investigation," the school administration took the next totally reasonable step and decided to expel the student from the school.
Walton County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived at the boy's home on Thursday evening to question him about the rumors.
Apparently, the boy -- whose name and age have been withheld -- had told another student that he overheard seven students talking about a plot to shoot up the school. According to police, the student told them that he was just trying to be "funny and scare other students" and that there was obviously no intention of pulling off a mass shooting at the school.
After further investigation, police determined that there was no real threat and that the boy did not have access to weapons or guns of any kind.
The boy's mother says he began the rumor because he has been constantly bullied at school throughout the year. Since he didn't want to be a snitch by reporting the bullying, he began the rumor of a school shooting plot instead.
"He didn't threaten to shoot anyone," the mother told nwfdailynews.com. "He's really upset that it went this far."
The student is not facing any criminal charges, but the School Board went ahead and expelled him because overreaction is the top subject at the School of Hard Knocks.
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