A Georgia teen who assaulted an assistant principal in a drunken rage, then threatened to return with a gun and “kill everyone” at his high school is now in the care of a mental health facility.
According to WSB-TV, 17-year-old Ty Holder was bailed out of jail by a relative this week after judge lowered his bond. The teen was previously being held on no bond after police said he threatened to shoot up Walton High School, one of top academic schools in Georgia.
Cellphone video obtained by the outlet shows the moment Holder kicked an assistant principal in the groin on August 6 after the administrator confronted him about having alcohol on school grounds. Officials with the Cobb County School District Police Department said the teenager had a water bottle filled with booze and showed up to class drunk.
UPDATE: 17-year old who allegedly made threats to get a gun and kill people at Walton HS will head back to a mental health facility for treatment. A judge lowered his bond. He previously had no bond. Records show a family member bailed the teen out of jail. https://t.co/MojSnWZgyx
— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseTV) August 13, 2019
During the melee, police said Holder made specific threats “to get a gun and come back to the school” to kill the assistant principal and a school resource officer.
“When I get out, I’m going to get a gun and come back and kill everyone!” he added, according to the arrest warrant.
Holder blew a .216 blood-alcohol level, nearly three times the legal limit. A school police officer who restrained the teen during the incident wrote in his report that Holder did “kick myself several times,” and also “spit on me several times.”
Walton HS officials sent home a letter alerting parents to the incident, which several students witnessed.
“That situation has been resolved and student involved is in the care of medical professionals,” the letter read. “The school day is proceeding as it normally does and our community is hard at work teaching and learning.”
Many on social media were appalled by the video, and argued that the situation might have ended much differently if Holder wasn’t white.
“Had this been a Black or Brown Student, he would have been beaten by no less than five officers,” one Twitter user wrote. “White Privilege is real.”
“I would say I’m shocked but In reality I’m not,” another chimed in. “Another white man , who threatened to kill innocent people , and apparently also has a ‘mental illness’ just like the rest of the white men who did shootings. Disgusted.”
In a statement, a spokesman for the Cobb County School District said its staff are trained in prevention and intervention best practices and lauded Walton school employees for responding “quickly and appropriately” to the situation.
The incident comes at a time when the nation is on high alert after two deadly mass shootings. The back-to-back attacks in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, left more than 30 people dead and have sparked renewed calls for stricter gun laws.
According to jail records, deputies picked up Holder at a treatment facility in Dunwoody last Friday, and he was booked the next morning, WSB-TV reported. The teen is charged with several crimes, including making terroristic threats, alcohol possession on public school grounds, battery of a teacher and simple battery of an officer.
Now that he’s out on bond, authorities said Holder will return to the center for evaluation/treatment in the meantime.
Watch more in the video below.
