Prosecutors charge teen whose alleged gun threat shut down Belleville high schools
Prosecutors on Thursday charged the teen taken into custody Wednesday after both Belleville high schools were closed because he allegedly made suicidal comments, took his mother's gun and threatened to confront his girlfriend.
Derek L. Burton, 18, was charged with three counts of aggravated assault using a deadly weapon, one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a person younger than 21 and one count of making a threat to harm someone at a school. The threat was not directed toward the school at large, St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly emphasized.
The assault charges did not stem from an incident at the school, but rather from allegedly pointing a gun at three minors at the Circle K in Shiloh the night before, according to Belleville Police Chief Bill Clay. At 8:58 p.m. Tuesday, Burton allegedly confronted three or four people in the convenience store parking lot and made threats to harm them, Clay said.
Burton was still in custody as of Thursday evening, Clay said. His bail was set at $55,000.
Burton's mother called Belleville Police at 1:04 a.m. Wednesday to report that her handgun was missing after her son left the home. She told officers her son was making suicidal statements and that he was having issues with his girlfriend.
Police then contacted Belleville District 201 Superintendent Jeff Dosier, who canceled what was supposed to be the last day of classes for both Belleville East and Belleville West high schools.
"I can’t imagine anyone would think that’s overreaction," Dosier said, when asked if the district and police overreacted. "We’ve all seen the tragedies that have happened around the country ... I hope I never get a call like that again.”
Burton was taken into custody at 7:50 a.m. Wednesday at the Shiloh home where his girlfriend lives. He did not have the gun with him, police said. Burton returned home at some point to put the gun back before going to his girlfriend's house, Clay said.
His girlfriend told KSDK he had been feuding with someone else who was romantically interested in her and that it had escalated.
Wednesday's final exams were scheduled to take place Thursday.
This is the third recent case in St. Clair County where someone has been charged with making threats toward a school or toward students at a school. A 14-year-old Cahokia girl and a 15-year-old O'Fallon boy were charged with making terroristic threats in separate incidents earlier this year.
The threat came a week after a 17-year-old admitted to authorities that he went on a shooting rampage that left 10 dead, most of them students, at a southeast Texas high school.
This story was originally published May 24, 2018 at 6:40 PM with the headline "Prosecutors charge teen whose alleged gun threat shut down Belleville high schools."