‘Shooting up School’ Comment Leads to Felony Charge Against Triton Student

Mantorville, MN (KROC-AM News) - A Triton High School student was arraigned Friday in Dodge County Court on a felony terroristic threats charge for allegedly making threatening comments at the school on Thursday.

A statement issued by Dodge County Sheriff Scott Rose says deputies were informed that 18-year-old Matthew Caleb McIntire had asked a juvenile friend if they ever felt like shooting up the school. Another student overheard the comment and questioned McIntire, who allegedly told the other student they should “wear orange to school tomorrow.” The Sheriff says the other student then asked if they should stay home and that McIntire allegedly replied, “Yes.”

McIntire was later located at his place of employment and arrested without incident.

He told investigators his statements were not serious in nature and that he was just joking around.

“While this investigation is ongoing, and we can’t be sure what this young man’s actual intentions were, we know that teenagers can make all sorts of comments that they may not necessarily mean, often without really thinking through the consequences,” explained Sheriff Rose. “The problem here is you just can’t make threats like this. Certainly not in the current state our country is in. We have to take every threat seriously and follow through accordingly to insure the safety of the public and our deputies. Our patrol, investigations, and dispatch staff did a great job last night handling this situation quickly and without incident. They also made sure things were safe at the school this morning.”