How a PowerPoint presentation stoked fears that led to this SC student’s arrest

A 13-year-old boy has been charged with disturbing schools after giving a PowerPoint presentation that caused a stir and then posting a date on Instagram that led to panic.

The parents of other students at Waccamaw Middle School in Litchfield alerted school officials of threats made on social media, Lt. Robert Sarvis of the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said in a release.

Officers said the teenager made a PowerPoint presentation about school shootings March 1 that upset some of his classmates. Days later he posted on Instagram the phrase “Wednesday, March 22.” The date is associated with a 2001 school shooting in Granite Hills, Calif., according to the release.

A witness told investigators the post was presented as humor by the suspect and he did not want to take it down because of the amount of reaction he was getting, GCSO noted in the release.

Georgetown County School District officials notified the sheriff’s office, initiating an investigation that led to the student being cited for disturbing schools. The student was given a psychiatric evaluation before being transported to a facility in Columbia, according to the release.

The teen will return from the Department of Juvenile Justice to Georgetown County for a hearing.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 8:16 PM with the headline "How a PowerPoint presentation stoked fears that led to this SC student’s arrest."