The Marshall Project

Less Than Zero Tolerance

After Parkland, Sante Fe shootings, policies meant to protect schools may lead to some misguided arrests

Nicolas, 12 and legally blind, was already having a rough week before he allegedly threatened to shoot up his classroom.

The fifth-grader had a bathroom mishap while in class at the Memorial Elementary School in Houston. Another student announced it to the class. That’s when Nicholas allegedly made the threat.

He was suspended immediately and referred to law enforcement on March 1. When he returned to school a few days later, he was arrested on a felony charge of making a “terroristic threat”. He spent the night at the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center.

Nicolas’s mother said

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