HPHS Student Remains in Custody After Threat Charges
The Highland Park High School student arrested last week for a series of terroristic threats is in the same place police left him on April 17: the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center.
A private hearing on Monday or Tuesday will determine whether the 16-year-old can be allowed to go home, said Debbie Denmon, spokeswoman for the Dallas County district attorney’s office. Usually, she said, a judge’s decision will depend on the severity of the crime and if the child is “a danger to anyone else.”
The student, who was arrested on campus, faces 17 felony charges for as many carefully masked “electronic messages” in March and April that threatened violence toward HPHS staff, students, and the school itself.
The charges don’t apply to the series of handwritten bomb threats that began in January, however, or the bullets discovered in February in a boys bathroom; those are still under investigation, University Park Police Chief Gary Adams said at the news conference announcing the arrest.
By law, authorities cannot release a juvenile offender’s name.
“Everybody in the city knows who he is,” University Park police Capt. Leon Holman said this week, “but I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to.
“If only he were 17.”
Denmon said the boy’s case has yet to be assigned to a particular court, much less given a court date; the initial hearing comes first. James Bright, his attorney, did not return a short-notice call for comment on Wednesday.
I’m a UP resident with kids in multiple HPISD schools and I don’t know who he is. Holman’s comment seems insensitive. A lot of us haven’t heard a name associated with this and we’re not actively looking to know.
Ditto. I don’t know who he is. Don’t want to.
Holman’s comment does not reflect well on the City of UP.
I’m inclined to cut Holman a break on this. After all of drama, I’m sure his department’s resources were burdened by this “prank” (that went on, and on, and on…)
Let’s not forget this man is responsible for the saftety of the kids at the school, and didn’t have the luxury for one moment to treat the threats as if they were a prank.
I think it would be great if he could tell us who it is. The boy responsible is “protected,” but perhaps a bit of public (insert word) humiliation/shaming/awareness might deter this boy or another in the future.
What part of Holman’s comment does not reflect well on the City of UP?
Holman will not be releasing the name of the student. It’s against the law. And the LAST thing the boy needs is public shaming and humiliation. He needs help and hopefully he will get some. It’s frankly disturbing that someone would think public shaming would be useful.
It is extremely unprofessional for the police chief to describe rumors and express his personal opinion.
I feel much sorrier for the other HP students who had to attend school in a state of fear.
Avid Reader, I think the perception is that the chief took a bit of a cheap shot with the statement about everyone in the city knowing the kid’s name and how he wished the kid was 17 (so that the name could be legally released to the public). It’s an understandable comment since the perpetrator caused the police force and the community so much money (in resources) and anxiety, but probably not the most professional thing for him to have said.
Leon Holman is a captain with the University Park Police Department. Gary Adams is the chief.