Pasadena ISD student arrested, charged after threatening high school with rocket launcher – Houston Public Media

A 17-year-old Pasadena student was arrested and charged on Wednesday after he threatened to use a rocket launcher against his high school.

Alexander Mariano Santiago, a student at Sam Rayburn High School, threatened to retrieve a shotgun from his home to "shoot up high school" and use a rocket launcher against the school, according to court documents.

Santiago is being held on a $10,000 bond. He's facing a terroristic threat charge.

In a letter to parents, Katherine Rearick, Sam Rayburn High School principal said Santiago was removed from campus while criminal charges were pending.

"School safety is our highest priority at Rayburn, and we consider students, parents and community members to be valuable partners who share this concern," Rearick said. "Working together to create a safe learning environment means that we keep each other informed about issues and activities that impact school safety."

"With that in mind, Pasadena ISD Police did arrest and remove a student for making a verbal threat," Rearick said. "Per our student code of conduct, the student will be removed from campus in addition to relevant criminal charges."

FBI Houston in September said the bureau has received more hoax school threats than any other month in the past three years.

Young people who feel powerless or voiceless might use threats as a mechanism to gain their sense of power back, Karin Price, Texas Children's Hospital chief of psychology told Houston Public Media last month.

"I think it's really hard to know," Price said about the apparent increase in threats. "One of the reasons why children and teenagers are more likely to engage in this behavior is because there's a lot of accessibility and fairly easy anonymity."

"But I do know – I think we all know – that kids feel less safe now than they did maybe ten years ago, and I do think it could be a factor [in the threats]," she said.