Carrboro High dad arrested on gun, drug charges after child posts threat to school on Snapchat

Authorities were alerted to the post, which showed a student holding a handgun and language indicating students who attended school on Thursday were all in danger, by another student.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office and Carrboro Police Department worked together to identify the student in the photo and searched that student's house. There, in a home off Smith Level Road, investigators seized a handgun and 17 glass jars containing a total of 380 grams of marijuana. They arrested Orontes Rogers, 38, and charged him with possession of a firearm by a felon, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for use, storage, or sale of controlled substances, felony possession of marijuana and failure to store a firearm to protect a minor. 

Authorities are aware of a second SnapChat photo, featuring a second student. The investigation into that post is still ongoing and charges are possible.

Sheriff Charles Blackwood said, “This was a situation where a student exhibited extremely poor judgment by posting a photo of himself holding a weapon on social media. Another student compounded the problem by modifying that photo and generating a threat of school violence. Social media is a powerful tool for connecting people, but it is also a dangerous tool when used inappropriately, which is certainly what happened here today. And the father’s failure to properly secure the weapon led to these events.”

CPD Chief Walter Horton agreed and expressed relief this matter ended safely. “A school safety threat obviously represents a danger to the students and staff at the threatened school. Even when the threat turns out to be a hoax, the community experiences increased anxiety, school attendance suffers, and frightened parents flood the roadways attempting to get to their children. I am pleased we were able to resolve this matter quickly.”

Rogers was being held at the Orange County jail under a $30,000 bond.