Teacher arrested, accused of threatening to shoot third graders

UNION PARISH, La. (KNOE/Gray News) - The sheriff’s office said they arrested a Louisiana teacher accused of threatening to shoot third-grade students.

The Union Parish Sheriff’s Office said a parent contacted them on Tuesday and claimed Robert Mitcham, 70, a teacher at Downsville Community Charter School, threatened students after becoming angry.

The parent said Mitcham told students he had bullets for his gun and would bring it to the school and shoot, allegedly adding that “some of the students would not survive.”

The parent told authorities that their child was scared and so were other children in the class.

Deputies worked with the office’s Criminal Investigations Division to investigate the incident. Investigators said they learned Mitcham allegedly also told the students that there was “too many of y’all to get rid of,” and he “only had six bullets in his gun.”

Witnesses told investigators that once an older student told another teacher what allegedly happened, Mitcham apologized to the students.

Deputies said Mitcham told them he felt overwhelmed and wanted the children to settle down, and he was not threatening them.

On Thursday, Mitcham was arrested and booked into the Union Parish Detention Center on one count of terrorizing. His bond was set at $15,000.

A Third District Court judge set a bond condition barring Mitcham from returning to the campus, pending the outcome of the case.

Sheriff Dusty Gates said he wants to remind parents, students and teachers, “If you see something, say something.”

“DCCS has two school resource officers on campus every day,” said the sheriff’s office in a Facebook post. “Please utilize these officers to discuss any concerns, especially those of planned acts of violence. Additionally, anonymous tips can be submitted online via the Safe Schools Louisiana app or website, the UPSO app, or through Crime Stoppers of Union Parish.”

Tony Cain, the principal of Downsville Community Charter School, said the school isn’t legally allowed to publicly comment on the situation.

“However, we do want to make it clear that the allegations by the parent reporting to the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office and those in social media are NOT consistent with the first-hand accounts provided to school staff from the students who actually witnessed the incident. We feel confident that the students were truthful and accurate with their accounting of the incident,” he said.