An angry Indiana mother is facing multiple charges after allegedly bringing a gun to her daughter’s elementary school and threatening the sixth grader’s lesbian teacher to “kiss ur kids goodbye” after she gave an assignment about flags, officials said Tuesday. Carrie Rivers, 48, was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm on school property and harassment in connection with the incident at Valley Mills Elementary School in Indianapolis.
Rivers threatened her daughter’s teacher over “a work assignment that had to do with same-sexuality relationships,” according to an affidavit supporting the woman’s arrest. Decatur Township School Police Department officers answered a call last Wednesday about an “irate parent” on campus. When they arrived, officers noticed Rivers had something on her waistband that looked like a firearm, the affidavit stated.
“Carrie Rivers stated that she did have a gun as I was removing it from her person,” responding police officer Tabetha Emenaker wrote in the affidavit. “I advised Carrie Rivers on the law in regard to having a firearm on school premises and that it was an arrestable offense. She understood and stated that she didn’t even realize that she had it on because she is so used to wearing it and has been on school property with it before.”
The mother then said she was taking her daughter out of Valley Mills Elementary and opting for homeschooling, police said. She also called her daughter’s teacher a slur disparaging to lesbians, the affidavit said. Police let Rivers go, but then she sent a threatening message to her daughter’s teacher 25 minutes later, the affidavit states. Rivers told the teacher that “god will condemn you to hell” and that “your (sic) a child predator,” the affidavit states.
Rivers allegedly told the teacher to “say ur prayers and kiss ur kids goodbye and goodnight u never know when god says its (sic) our time so be prepared.” The teacher, who keeps a picture of her wife and daughter on her desk, told police that she “gave an assignment to the whole class with the subject matter of flags.” When she was giving examples of country flags, she also referenced the rainbow flag in the classroom with the words “be kind” on it, the affidavit said.
Rivers told the teacher she disagreed with an assignment, accusing the educator of “trying to push her personal agenda in regard to sexuality on her daughter,” the affidavit said. The teacher said she allowed Rivers’ daughter to skip the assignment.
Still, in another message Rivers sent to the teacher, she called the educator a child predator who tells “precious innocent kids that it’s ok to be in same sex relationships,” according to the affidavit.
The suspect’s husband, Leon Rivers, said his wife meant no harm and has a firearm for “security around all the time” and “forgot to leave it” behind when she was “rushing in” to school that day.
“We see (other parents) bring guns into the school all the time, just to drop kids off,” he told NBC News on Tuesday. “I mean, you know, just coming and dropping the kids off and walking back out, like, for three seconds. They park in the front, drop the kid off, walk them in, and walk right back out.”
Rivers will not be allowed on campus again, according to the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township.
“No threats were made against students or staff at that time. The police suspected that the parent had possession of a concealed handgun on her person and escorted her out of the building. At that point, they took possession of the weapon from the parent without incident outside the school. The parent stated that she forgot to remove the handgun before arriving on school property,” the district said in a statement.
“After the incident, it came to our attention that the parent then sent harassing and threatening messages to her child’s teacher. A warrant was filed for her arrest, and she is not permitted on any Decatur Township school property. We are committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for students and staff, and are grateful for the quick action of the office staff and school police in handling the situation safely.”
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