BILLINGS — The words were disturbing: "Senior will get shot up December 8, everyone will die."
That was the threat made at Billings Senior High School in December in a bathroom stall. An arrest has been made, but months later, many say the wrong person was accused.
The arrest was of a 15-year-old sophomore, whom MTN News is identifying only by his initials, K.S., because he is a juvenile.
"Everyone knows he didn’t do it, but the school board just assumed it was him, I guess," said friend Matthew Sandy on Thursday.
The sophomore currently faces a charge of intimidation. He was identified after he took a photo of the threat in the bathroom and posted in on the social media app SnapChat.
"They just assumed that he did it, and I think that’s pretty unfair to him and his family," said friend Sy Gellner on Thursday.
The threat at Senior came on the same day that Billings West High was on high alert across town after someone made a threat of violence there. None of the threats resulted in violence.
An online petition is now circulating. It collected more than 1,300 signatures in the first 24 hours, with students and others voicing their support for the 15-year-old.
"He should’ve stayed in school. There was no evidence that would prove that he did it. Judging by how he did in school, there’s no way he would’ve done that," said friend Roman Eyre.
According to the police affidavit: "The staff at Senior took a picture of the writing. And compared the writing on the wall to an example of the student’s writing from one of his notebooks and found it to be similar."
The charging documents go on to say, "the teen’s father was presented with the writing on the wall as well as the writing from his notebook and he agreed that the writing looked similar."
Similarities aside, the teen’s friends insist he’s a good kid with a bright future and they hope support from the petition will help clear his name.
"A lot of support towards him and I think it’ll keep getting better too. That should be something," added Gellner.
