School sends letter to parents a week after student arrested for ‘making threats to kill’

A parent from the school at the centre of an investigation over an alleged student hit list says she believes families were kept in the dark because the school was “hamstrung by police”.

An Adelaide Hills Teenager has been arrested after police found him in possession of a gun and kill list.

A distressed parent of a student on the alleged kill list that led to the arrest of a schoolboy last week for threats to kill has spoken out.

The parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said she was notified by police that her child was on the list.

“I was contacted by the police before the school, (then) I spoke with the deputy principal that afternoon and I think they handled the situation in the best way they possibly could,” she said.

Letter sent to parents: An Adelaide Hills high school community is on high alert after a teenage student was arrested and charged over alleged threats to kill his classmates.

The 15-year-old was charged a week ago on Wednesday, May 17, after police searched his home and allegedly found a gun and a “hit list” of potential targets. He was charged with making threats to kill or endanger life.

Despite her son’s name being on that hit-list, the mother said she did not “perceive the threat as being serious”, and believed it was an “abstract threat, that wasn’t real”.

She was concerned about how the situation would “make life more difficult” for the student who was arrested.

“I hope this child is getting the help that he needs,” she said.

She said she was “happy with how the school dealt with (their) side of things.”

“I think they (the school) were really hamstrung by the police,” she said. “Once the police got involved, their powers were very limited about what they could say and do.”

“But, I was really happy with the way they communicated with us,” she said.

The mother said the school’s deputy principal hesitated to disclose the situation to the wider school community because they were “under strict advice by the police,” and they were waiting until the “court process (before) they could announce it to anyone.”

She said the school has offered support to all the parents and children on the list, and hoped the student who was charged “could stay at the school and get more support”.

Another parent, who also requested to remain anonymous, said she was “very nervous,” and had planned to speak to school about the incident.

“I was very disappointed the school didn’t notify us about anything (and) we all found out on the news about it,” she said.

Speaking to the Advertiser prior to the school sending a letter out to parents, she said she was still in the dark about the situation.

“We just know via what the students (know). I’ve got an older son and he knew who it was and things like that, but we haven’t been given any information,” she said.

She said, two of her children who attend the school, “tried to get out of coming to school today” and said she wanted more information from the school “explaining what happened and what’s been done about it”.

An Education Department spokesperson said, “The school was in contact with the families and staff directly impacted last week, and support services have been offered to both. The student has not been at the school since 17 May.”

Police did not respond to questions about whether it had advised the school last week not to tell the whole parent body about the matter.