Marion County sheriff’s deputies arrested 17-year old Merquetio Alan Stevenson for making threats of violence towards other students at Lake Weir High School. MCSO worked in partnership with state and federal agencies to locate Stevenson and bring forth charges against him as a part of MCSO’s zero tolerance policy on threats of violence towards students in Marion County schools.
Several LWHS students came forward to authorities to report several threats Stevenson had made while riding a school bus on Thursday. Several students witnessed Stevenson saying that he was going to shoot and blow the school up and that they were all going to die. Stevenson then began ranting about blowing up the bus and about how body parts would be everywhere.
LWHS experienced an increased presence of law enforcement on campus Friday to ensure the security of the students during the investigation into Stevenson’s threats. Stevenson was located Friday afternoon in the Whispering Sands neighborhood and was taken into custody without incident.
Stevenson has five prior felony convictions from December 2016. He has been charged with Threat to Bomb-Threaten Discharge Destructive Device and two misdemeanor charges, which are not public record due to his juvenile status. Stevenson is currently being held without bond in the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.
More than half of the student population was absent from LWHS on Friday due to Stevenson’s threats.
