Nashville school threats on rise, reach double digits after Antioch High shooting

School threats are on the rise after a Jan. 22 shooting left two dead, including the shooter, and one injured at Antioch High School.

It’s been a little more than a week since 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante was killed and a 17-year-old classmate was injured after another 17-year-old boy opened fire and later shot himself in the school cafeteria, and Metro Police say there have been 12 arrests connected with violence in Nashville schools.

Eleven of the arrests were related to making threats against schools while the 12th arrest involved a student bringing a gun on school property, police said.

The new arrests come during a continuing wave of threats of mass violence that began in 2024 and after a July state law made it a felony to make such threats against schools.

The measure followed a similar law that passed in 2023 requiring public schools to expel students for one year if they make a threat of mass violence. The expulsion law was meant to serve as a deterrent against threats in the wake of The Covenant School shooting. It has triggered at least two lawsuits, with parents arguing it’s far too harsh.

The suits say children are being held in juvenile detention and solitary confinement as well as being strip-searched and expelled.

School threats since Antioch High School shooting

Here are the details police gave regarding the most recent arrests in Nashville:

Two students were arrested Jan. 30 in connection to making threats of mass violence.

An 18-year-old at Hunters Lane High School admitted to telling another student in his class that he would shoot up the school. The teen and his parents met at the Madison police precinct, where he admitted to making the threat. He was charged and is being held on $100,000 bond.

In a separate case, a 12-year-old Intrepid College Prep student was charged with making a threat of mass violence and false report after police said he threatened to kill a group of students. The school suspended the boy, and when he returned to school, he texted another student, threatened to shoot him and sent a video of a gun, police reported.

A 14-year-old male student was charged Jan. 28 for making threats as students were leaving for the day at John F. Kennedy Middle School. Nashville police said the teen warned students not to come to school tomorrow because he would be bringing a gun.

Two teens were arrested Jan. 26 in separate cases for making electronic threats against principals. In one case, a 17-year-old girl from Antioch High School was charged with communicating a threat after police said she posted an Instagram threat against her principal. In another, a 13 year-old boy from Madison Middle School was charged with communicating a threat to a school official after police said he emailed threats to his principal.

Three male students, two 13-year-olds and a 14-year-old, were charged in unrelated cases for making threats on Jan 24. In the first case, a seventh grade student at Valor Flagship Academy made threats against Valor, Thurgood Marshall Middle School and John F. Kennedy Middle School, according to police, who said the boy later admitted to making the threats to “scare” other students in his class. Another 13-year-old from Haynes Middle School posted an Instagram story threatening to “shoot up” multiple area schools. Police said the teen was found to have a history of making school threats. And, lastly, police charged a 14-year-old student at H.G. Hill Middle School who sent a photo of a gun to another student. In this case, multiple students came forward to school staff and reported that the student made threats to them and that he was planning to “shoot up” the school, police noted.

Four arrests occurred on Jan. 23, the day after the Antioch High School shooting.

An 11th grade student at Knowledge Academy had his backpack taken due to it not being clear, police said, noting that the boy threatened “Antioch part two” if his headphones were missing. The boy was removed from class and a search of his backpack produced nothing.

In a separate case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified of a threat against Antioch High School and Hillsboro High School posted on Instagram. Authorities responded to Dupont Tyler Middle School. where they interviewed a 12-year-old boy who admitted to posting the threatening story.

Another 12-year-old at Apollo Middle School threatened to shoot four of his classmates around dismissal time. Police said the boy showed the students a picture of a gun.

And an 18-year-old McGavock High School student was arrested after a student told school administrators found a gun inside the teen’s backpack.