Editor’s note: This article has been corrected from its original version.

MOULTRIE – Brandy Romero’s daughter got off the school bus on Monday, Sept. 16, and said that she didn’t want to ride the school bus in the morning. When Romero asked her why not, she said that there was a boy on the bus threatening “to shoot up the bus.”

“I called the sheriff’s office that night and took my daughter to school the next day myself,” said Romero. “There was no way I was going to let her ride that bus.”

According to Romero, on that day, the principal of J.M. Odom Elementary – where the bus was headed – and a school resource officer stood outside the doors of the building waiting for the bus and the alleged offender.

According to Sheriff Rod Howell, the juvenile was not on the bus that Tuesday morning, and the officers had to watch security footage in order to determine the identity of the child. Upon discovering the boy’s identity, the police returned and arrested the juvenile when he rode the bus the following Wednesday morning.

The juvenile was identified as an alternative school student who frequently rode the bus with the Odom Elementary school students.

“They’re not all violent kids; it just happened to be that one of the children made a threat that day. Unless the child’s hearing officer says that the child is unable to ride the bus, the alternative school students have always ridden the bus with non-alternative students. It’s never been an issue,” said Colquitt County School Superintendent Doug Howell.

“It’s been taken care of. I can assure you it was handled very carefully by the sheriff’s office and the school.”

The youth is currently in custody at the Regional Youth Detention Center in Crisp County.