MADISON TWP — A 12-year-old boy was suspended from Madison Middle School after he made a “kill list” with the names of five other students on a school computer.
According to a report from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the boy typed the list and showed it to some students “a few days later.”
Multiple students notified the principal’s office at the end of the day on Jan 18. Assistant Principal Andrew Kepple told deputies the student was suspended the same day.
When the student and his mother came back to the school on Jan. 19 to discuss the incident, the boy told Kepple and a Richland County Sheriff’s deputy that he showed the list to classmates “as a joke” and did not know people would take it seriously.
The boy said he made the list because the kids annoy him and talk too much. Two of the students on the list were the boy’s brother and sister.
The boy also said his sister showed the kids an embarrassing video of him and that is why some of them were included on his list.
“Madison Local Schools is committed to providing a safe learning environment so that our students can achieve and thrive academically,” Madison Supt. Rob Peterson said in a statement.
“Accordingly, the recent incident regarding a ‘Kill List’ was taken very seriously and was addressed swiftly by the Middle School administration and the School Resource Officer.”
The boy has been charged with inducing panic, a first-degree misdemeanor, by initiating or circulating a false report. He was issued a summons in lieu of arrest.
Administrator Brian Bumpus of the Richland County Juvenile Court said the boy has no criminal history.
“They will do an informal hearing and assess the situation and go from there,” he said.
