An Indian Trail student has been identified as the author of the threatening online message that resulted in the school being closed Thursday. But it was his friend, a former Indian Trail student, who had actually distributed the Snap Chat post Wednesday evening as a joke.
Lozamar Alexis, Jr. and Tre'Shawn Moore-Thomas were both charged Friday in Kenosha Court with making terrorist threats as co-defendants. A conviction carries a three and-a-half-year prison term.
Bond for Alexis was set at $20,000 while Moore-Thomas, who now lives and goes to school in Milwaukee, is being held on a $2,500 bond.
Alexis' attorney, Carl Johnson, moved to dismiss the charge against his client because he said Alexis hadn't intended to pass the message along to anyone other than his friend, calling it a free speech issue.
Court Commissioner David Berman denied the motion in part because he said Alexis should've known that the Snap Chat post could've gotten out. "There are limits to free speech," he said. He also said there were no guarantees that Alexis wouldn't have carried out the threat to shoot up the school had he not been approached Wednesday evening by police who were trying to track down the origin of the message.
Berman also noted that Alexis could've limited the damage by admitting to authoring the post right then and there, instead of allowing the panic to spread and school to be closed.
Alexis finally admitted his involvement the next day.
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