A Charlotte man charged with making detailed threats to carry out mass shootings at five public schools has been released from jail just three days before students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district were scheduled to return to class.
The man’s release has sparked outrage among parents concerned for their children’s safety.
Drew Andres Owens, 33, was released from the Mecklenburg County Jail at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday after posting a reduced bond, according to jail records obtained by the New York Post, with the new school year beginning today.
Owens faces five felony counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property and has pleaded not guilty. The case remains pending.
Court documents explain that Owens allegedly sent emails on February 15, 2025, threatening to “slaughter staff and students” at West Charlotte High School, Ardrey Kell High School, Community House Middle School, and Hawk Ridge Elementary School.
A separate indictment involves a mailed threat against Garinger High School.
The affidavit claimed a student armed with two shotguns and an AR-15 would carry out the attack, though school administrators found no such student enrolled.
Owens’ own father, a West Charlotte High School ROTC instructor, confirmed to police that his son was responsible for the threats.
The Post reports:
Darryl Owens allegedly told authorities that his son had harassed relatives, neighbors and family friends after being removed from the family home in 2021, and had sent unsigned emails and letters threatening to kill or shoot people at multiple locations.
The father told police he had previously obtained a restraining order against his son, that Owens had been arrested for violating it and that the order was later dismissed.
He also told police that Owens had recently sat outside neighbors’ homes and photographed his car at West Charlotte High School “to try to lure him outside.”
His original combined bond of roughly $200,000 was later reduced to $60,000 for the primary case.
Owens is reportedly under electronic monitoring and ordered to stay away from school campuses.
Parents don’t think that is enough.
“Is he going to show up at one of the schools? It’s not good,” one parent told local station WSOC. “I’m not going to feel at ease; I’m not going to pretend it’s OK.”
Another parent told the station, “It’s really unnerving for some of us. We live in the area where he knows people, and again it’s not positive; it’s scary.”
“He’s out, and that’s it, and the rest of us have to deal with it, and teachers have to go to school on Tuesday and deal with it,” they added.
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