Mom Warned Officials Son Was Taking Gun To School. Now She Faces Charges.

An Indiana mother who alerted authorities that her teenage son was headed to a middle school with a gun last year before he opened fire and then died by suicide was arrested Tuesday for neglect of a dependent and other charges, according to police.


© NBC News Authorities, including State Police, gather following a shooting at Dennis Intermediate School in Richmond

Mary York, 43, was charged Friday with five counts of felony neglect of a dependent, one count of felony dangerous control of a child and one misdemeanor count of criminal recklessness, according to a statement from Indiana State Police.

She turned herself in on Tuesday, and was booked at the Wayne County Jail.


© WTHR

York called police in December to report that her teenage son was headed to Dennis Intermediate School in Richmond with a gun, according to NBC affiliate WTHR and police.

Officers from multiple agencies were immediately dispatched to the school, where they found the teen shooting out a glass door before entering the building.

Police chased after him, and when they surrounded him in a stairwell, "he made the unfortunate decision to take his own life," according to State Police. No one else was injured during the incident.

Two investigations into the incident resulted in the charges brought by Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman against York. It's unclear if she has a lawyer.

York had told police that her son suffered from depression prior to the tragedy, but that she had removed him from an inpatient treatment program because of the cost, according to court documents obtained by WTHR.

Records say he had expressed a desire to go to the school and kill students that had bullied him, and he heard voices that told him to kill others, then himself.

The court documents said York failed to prevent her son from gaining access to firearms despite knowing of his mental state.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

I'm not marching a hole in my shoes to protest for this woman. I feel like she did more than a whole lot of parents by calling the police on her own kid to let them know he was going to kill other peoples kids. I think that should be taken into heavy consideration when it comes to her sentencing.


She Warned a School About Her Armed Son, but Now She Faces Charges
Prosecutors said Mary York prematurely removed her son from a mental health facility and did not report that he had fired a gun in their home before a standoff at a school ended in his suicide.


Image
Mary York, whose 14-year-old son threatened to shoot up his former school, during an interview with WISH-TV in Indianapolis. She now faces six felony charges.CreditCredit WISH-TV
By Mariel Padilla

• Oct. 15, 2019
• • David W. Dennis Intermediate School in Richmond, Ind.
    
    The police did not release the boy’s name because of his age.
    
    Prosecutors said in the affidavit that Ms. York prematurely removed her son from a mental health facility; took him off prescription medication because he had said it made him feel weird; and failed to tell the police when he fired a handgun inside their home in October 2018, according to The Richmond Palladium-Item.
    
    On Dec. 13, Ms. York called the police around 8:15 a.m. and told the dispatcher that her son had taken her boyfriend hostage at gunpoint and was threatening to shoot up Dennis Intermediate School, according to the police. The school serves grades 5 through 8.
    
    she told the Indianapolis station WISH-TV in April.
    
    When the boy arrived at the school, he was armed with a rifle, a pistol, ammunition, two bottles filled with gasoline, rags for Molotov cocktails and a handwritten plan of action, Capt. David Bursten, an officer with the Indiana State Police, said at a news conference in April.
    
    Police officers were at the school when the boy entered the building by shooting a glass door, Captain Bursten said.
    
    The boy shot at officers from a stairwell inside the school while Nichole Vandervort, the school’s principal, monitored the situation through video security footage. Ms. Vandervort provided updates to police officers of the boy’s movements, Captain Bursten said.
    
    The boy fired his rifle six times at the officers and used the seventh and last round to take his own life. The boy had no other injuries, Captain Bursten said.
    
    told the Indianapolis station WXIN on Monday that she did not see any warning signs, and she couldn’t believe that her son would do something like this.
    
    “I tried everything I could to stop him,” she said.
    
    The recommended charges against Ms. York are one count of dangerous control of a child for his possession of a firearm and five counts of neglecting a dependent, which are all felonies. She also faces one misdemeanor count of criminal recklessness, according to prosecutors.
    
    Ms. York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. It is unclear whether she has a lawyer.
    
    Ms. York told WISH-TV in April that the guns belonged to her then-boyfriend and were locked away in the house. She said her son was depressed and anxious because he was bullied at Dennis Intermediate School.
    
    He had been admitted to a mental health facility several months before the shooting, but the facility said “nothing was wrong” when it released him to her, she added.
    
    “They’re blaming me and my son, but they need to be blaming the school system and this medical facility that let me take him out,” Ms. York said.
    
    The Richmond Palladium-Item reported.
    
    After investigating the incident, Captain Bursten said there was no reason to believe the boy was targeting a specific person, and the police found that bullying was not relevant to the investigation. The boy intended to “cause maximum damage and harm,” he added.
    
    David Snow, the mayor of Richmond, said at the April news conference that the community should keep talking about mental health, encouraging those with mental illness to seek help.
    
    “It is so important as a community that we remove the stigma of mental health,” he said, “and to make mental health resources both available and affordable.”
    
    Ms. York described her son as a really caring boy who liked go-karts and swimming.
    
    “I can’t ever see him again now,” Ms. York told WISH-TV. “I just feel like everything was not done right. I feel like there’s so many people that failed him.”

Crackers Phinn said:

I'm not marching a hole in my shoes to protest for this woman. I feel like she did more than a whole lot of parents by calling the police on her own kid to let them know he was going to kill other peoples kids. I think that should be taken into heavy consideration when it comes to her sentencing.

Click to expand...

Agreed. The only thing I could see being a problem, is not reporting that he shot off the gun in the house before. (Parents at my school take kids off meds all the time so that’s nothing new to me)

This could set a precedent ..my thing is, if they live at home, that child is still the parent's full responsibility...whether the parents know what the kid is doing or not. Even though she did the right thing by calling the cops about him wanting to shoot other kids, she'd prematurely removed her son from a mental health facility; took him off meds and failed to tell police when he fired a handgun inside their home in October 2018...those carry way too much weight to overlook. She may have just called the cops to get him off her hands not necessarily only to do the good citizen thing. Taking him off meds isn't "doing everything I could"

Laela said:

This could set a precedent ..my thing is, if they live at home, that child is still the parent's full responsibility...whether the parents know what the kid is doing or not. Even though she did the right thing by calling the cops about him wanting to shoot other kids, she'd prematurely removed her son from a mental health facility; took him off meds and failed to tell police when he fired a handgun inside their home in October 2018...those carry way too much weight to overlook. She may have just called the cops to get him off her hands not necessarily only to do the good citizen thing. Taking him off meds isn't "doing everything I could"

Click to expand...

The article mentions she had to take him out of treatment due to cost. No father mentioned. I’m guessing she didn’t have the money to pay for his treatment. I’m sure a good lawyer can argue that lack of mental health coverage/financial issues made it impossible to keep up with his treatment.

The first article says she removed him because she couldn't afford treatment and the second article says that that he was released because they said nothing was wrong with him. Both of these are the mothers account and the facilities paperwork should shed more light. But that said, if it was a private facility and she couldn't pay then they weren't going to keep him for free. The meds become an issue of parental discretion if she was told there was nothing wrong with him. Where she messed up and will have a charge that sticks is not reporting him firing a gun and taking her boyfriend hostage.

People can't imagine what it's like living with a relative who is legit crazy AF. I mean Tupac in Juice shooting in the elevator scene crazy which is in the same crazy social circle as school shooting crazy. When you live with somebody that crazy, the family members take on symptoms similar to PTSD and there is a lot of denial but the adults in the situation still have a responsibility to prevent the child from harming other people.

Like I said, I'm not going to be out protesting for this woman, I'm not contributing to any GoFundMe's but I can acknowledge that she made the right decision when a lot of people wouldn't. BTW - This is one of those 1 in a kazillion situations where if the mother would have chose her boyfriend over her child, the child might still be alive today.

She's a hero. Won't say this outside of lhcf.
I never believe parents when they act shocked when their kids shoot up schools.
You saw it just like teachers and classmates do.

Questions still abound.. we don't know if the woman chose her boyfriend over her son... Did the firearm belong to the boyfriend? Did mom go to the school to address the bully situation? Where did the boy get the gun? Sounds like there was domestic unrest in the household and likely the boyfriend and son didn't get along, for him to take him hostage. Mental illness and guns don't mix. I'm sure there are more out there in situations similar to this than we care to admit. Unfortunately, we don't find out until it hit the news. I'd hardly call her a hero, though.

I feel like the parents of these little devils who shoot up schools should face charges just on GP. But it seems like she’s the only parent so far to actually intervene, saving lives in the process, and she’s the only one being held accountable (to my recollection). Doesn’t seem quite right, but... oh well.

My only protest is that they need to find his daddy and arrest him too.

The boy was armed with "a rifle, a pistol, ammunition, two bottles filled with gasoline, rags for Molotov cocktails", that lawyer would also have to explain how he amassed so much weaponry...
The school attack was a near-miss but officers were dispatched to the school so it must have been a traumatic experience for the teachers/students...

dicapr said:

The article mentions she had to take him out of treatment due to cost. No father mentioned. I’m guessing she didn’t have the money to pay for his treatment. I’m sure a good lawyer can argue that lack of mental health coverage/financial issues made it impossible to keep up with his treatment.[/QUOTE]

Click to expand...

Are people legally obligated to report when their kids commit a crime in their own home? Charging her seems especially unkind considering that her kid is dead and no one else was harmed.

Kanky said:

Are people legally obligated to report when their kids commit a crime in their own home? Charging her seems especially unkind considering that her kid is dead and no one else was harmed.

Click to expand...

If somebody is committing a felony in your home. you're supposed to call the police. Taking hostages at gunpoint is a pretty serious felony. I can't decide if the ex-bf didn't press charges because he was embarrassed, had a record or the mother begged him not to. One thing is for certain, he got the fornication out of dodge expeditiously. He was like "Your kid ain't got to kidnap me but one time."

Crackers Phinn said:

If somebody is committing a felony in your home. you're supposed to call the police. Taking hostages at gunpoint is a pretty serious felony. I can't decide if the ex-bf didn't press charges because he was embarrassed, had a record or the mother begged him not to. One thing is for certain, he got the fornication out of dodge expeditiously. He was like "Your kid ain't got to kidnap me but one time."

Click to expand...

I am chuckling.

But Americans won’t vote for universal healthcare where the mother could have left him in the mental health facility if it was fully covered but like you guys said I won’t be protesting on her behalf

I am just glad she is not black

After investigating the incident, Captain Bursten said there was no reason to believe the boy was targeting a specific person, and the police found that bullying was not relevant to the investigation. The boy intended to “cause maximum damage and harm,” he added.

A dumb take

Anyway, this is unfortunate situation all around. In other cases i can see why the parent was charged but not here. The weapons were locked up. The facility would not keep him if she couldn't pay for it. People change medicines all the time. If his doctors told her he was okay i can see why she'd take him off.