Lake Orion High student charged with threatening to shoot up school

Orion Township — A 15-year-old Lake Orion High School student has been arrested and charged with threatening to shoot up his school if he could obtain a gun, one of several dozens incidents in which schools around Michigan have closed this week in the wake of a fatal mass shooting at Oxford High School — about seven miles from Lake Orion.

The student, a junior at Lake Orion High, appeared Friday afternoon via Zoom before Oakland County Probate Referee Michael Hand, who authorized a misdemeanor charge of threatening to commit violence with a firearm against students or employees on school property. If convicted, the teen could face up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

According to a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office, the 15-year-old is being held without bond in Children's Village pending the resumption of a preliminary exam at 10 a.m. Dec. 10. His name has not been released.

Officials from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said the student was arrested around 6:30 p.m. Thursday at his Orion Township home by sheriff's detectives for "making a terrorist threat." The student said he had been planning to get revenge against someone for several years, the sheriff's office said, adding that several guns were removed from the student’s home.

The arrest came just hours after Sheriff Michael Bouchard and other law enforcement officials warned on Thursday that those making copycat threats of violence would be sought out and arrested.

"School districts around the state have closed because of concerns for student and staff safety,” Bouchard said in a statement. “We have seen first-hand the tragic consequences when these statements turn into action.

"Some may think it is a joke. It is not. Others see it as a way to get out of school or it may be a real precursor that requires us to intervene and prevent. We are aggressively investigating each of these threats and will seek to hold anyone accountable who makes such threats.”

At least 60 schools have closed due to the specter of threats being circulated on social media and other means, taxing law enforcement, authorities said this week.