A thirteen-year-old girl was arrested in connection to a shooting threat against Palm Coast's Buddy Taylor Middle School, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office announced Monday. It's the latest in a rash of shooting threats placed against several schools in Flagler and Volusia counties dating back to late in the 2023-24 school year.
The FCSO identified Deondra Gaskins as the suspect in the threat, and said she made a social media post with a grim promise. '12:05 be ready to die if you go to BTMS,' the post reportedly said, with emojis depicting knives and guns. She's said to have told deputies she wasn't serious about the threat, and that she'd been discussing school shootings with a friend before making the post. She said her and the friend were joking about the idea on the phone.
According to the FCSO Gaskins' mother made her daughter delete the post, and she brought her to school to fess up to what had happened a day prior. Deondra was arrested then and there for written/electronic threat of a mass shooting/terrorism act and was placed into the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice. A potentially more serious and resource-draining response was likely spared due to the nature of the school district and law enforcement's discovery of the post.
“We are aware of this arrest of a student making threats to the safety of the school," stated Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore. "We want to make it clear that such behavior is never a joke. Anyone who threatens the welfare of our children and our employees will be met with consequences. We work closely with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office to ensure a swift and appropriate response to any threat, and we encourage all students and families to understand the gravity of these actions. Our priority remains the safety of our students, faculty, and staff.”
“The Flagler County Sheriff's Office takes all threats seriously, especially ones made towards a school or its student body," added Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly. “We don’t like arresting young teens, but we will protect Flagler County students. Thank you to the parent who found this post on her daughter's phone and reported it to the school so we could act swiftly and make a quick arrest to prevent an incident from happening at a Flagler County school. I also know this had to be a hard decision for a parent, but it was the right decision. Thank you to the mom for being the Sheriff of your home. More parents need to be parents and not just friends and teach their kids that actions have consequences.”
