New Hanover Co. Assistant DA talks to teens about recent school threats

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Two new school threats have led to the arrests of students in New Hanover and Pender County.

That was on the mind of one Assistant District Attorney as she sent a message of vigilance and consequence to students in teen court. The threats that have been reported for the most part were not credible or are alleged to be hoaxes from what law enforcement has told us.

What is real are the charges and potential penalties these teens are facing for making them.

“There is nothing funny about making this type of statement,” said assistant district attorney Lillian Salcines-Bright to a room of students taking part in Monday teen court.

Be it written, overheard, or Snapped, alleged school threats have become all too frequent in cape fear schools since the Parkland massacre.

“I think this can definitely help impact more kids than if they are just hearing it from their parents,” said Makenzie Durham who is a prosecutor a part of the teen court.

New Hanover Assistant District Attorney Lillian Salcines-Bright told roughly a hundred students about the harsh consequences for teens who make false threats towards schools.

“It carries a maximum penalty of 39 months in a state prison.”

Makenzie Durham would know, she’s a sophomore at Ashley High School, which has been the target of several threats over the last two weeks.

“It needs to be taken seriously,” she said. “These kids are getting charged with a felony and that’s going to affect the rest of their life.”

Roughly a dozen teens have been arrested for school threats locally since Parkland.
The felony charges against could put them in prison for more than three years, but stay on their record for even more years to come.

“Those charges unfortunately have been brought into play pretty frequently in just the last few days,” said Salcines-Bright.

Those are the consequences, but Salcines-Bright also wanted to talk about empowering the students to be aware as well.

“The number one priority for us is safety,” she said. “If again, you see it, you say it, and we will do our part.”