Mom Who Called Cops on Her Son Faces Charges

Mary York warned authorities her teen son was armed, headed to school
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 15, 2019 6:46 PM CDT
Mom Who Called Cops on Her Son Faces Charges
Investigators examine a shattered glass door at Dennis Intermediate School Thursday, Dec. 13 2018, in Richmond, Ind.   (Jordan Kartholl/The Palladium-Item via AP)

Mary York was hailed as a hero after the Indiana mom called 911 in December to report that her son was armed and heading for a school that he had threatened to shoot up—but now she's in jail. The 14-year-old boy ultimately killed himself after shooting at police who had arrived at Richmond's David W. Dennis Intermediate School in response to York's call. Wayne County prosecutors, who on Friday charged York with six felonies and a misdemeanor, say York's son had been in a mental health facility from which she prematurely removed him, and that he had been on prescription medication she took him off when he said it made him feel odd. The affidavit also says, per the New York Times, the teen had fired a gun inside their home in October 2018, two months before the Dec. 13 school incident, and York failed to report the incident to police.

Medical records show the boy had said voices were telling him to kill students who bullied him; though there were no documented bullying incidents in the school records outlined in the affidavit, York said he had been bullied there in the past when he was a student there and that he was depressed and anxious over the bullying. He had left by December. York said back in April that the mental health facility, to which he had been admitted months prior to the December incident, told her "nothing was wrong" and released him to her. "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," she told WISH-TV at the time. On Monday, she told WXIN she "tried everything I could to stop him" and that she hadn't seen any warning signs that such an event was possible. She turned herself in Tuesday, the Indy Channel reports. (More school shooting stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X