WHITE HOUSE, Tenn. (WTVF) — School resource officers caught a teenager with a 13-inch blade at White House High School, and now administrators want answers for why they weren’t notified about prior threats made by the student.
NewsChannel5 Investigates obtained a scathing email sent by principal Ann Miller, where she called out the Millersville Police Department for failing to share what they learned after responding to the student’s home on Nov. 29.
The student reached out to the Teen Crisis Hotline to report they had been choked and slapped by a parent.
A Millersville Police incident report says that the student later sent more messages saying they considered going to school and killing students, their teacher, and themselves with a gun.
Officers arrived an hour later after learning of these threats and abuse allegations. The report says the student told EMS that they had no intentions of harming themselves or anybody else “as the issue was primarily a lack of attention” from their parents that made them lash out.
Officers deemed the situation under control and left after speaking with both the student and the parents.
The email by Miller sent to Sumner County officials and Millersville Police described her “extreme frustration with the current process used by the Millersville Police Department.”
Miller said no one shared the abuse allegations or threats with anyone at the school. Miller then scolded the actions of Millersville Police because she says their report suggests there was no mental health evaluation or follow-up for the allegations of child abuse.
"The police department should have fulfilled their duty to predict, warn or take precautions to protect by investigating the student's abuse," Miller said.
Miller followed up by saying, “we may have had an opportunity to get the student the help (they) needed without placing others in danger and creating undue stress to the student.”
The student was arrested and taken into custody before being suspended for 10 days, pending a disciplinary hearing. School personnel also referred the case to DCS to investigate the abuse allegations.
Millersville Mayor Tommy Long says this matter may end up in court, so city leaders can't comment.
School officials haven’t responded to our request for comment, but if Miller’s email is any indication, they also want answers.
Miller ended her email by saying, “my hope is that these issues will be addressed to prevent this type of negligence moving forward.”
NewsChannel5 Investigates reported earlier this week that Millersville Police Chief Dustin Carr abruptly resigned after just 10 months on the job. The city claimed Carr stepped down to spend more time with family and wished him the best in his future endeavors.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for more details.
