A Florida woman has been taken into custody after allegedly holding two teenage boys at gunpoint and threatening to kill them for fishing near her residence.
Unhinged Florida woman holds boys hostage for fishing
Authorities arrested 59-year-old Donna Elkins after she called 911 to report the presence of the two teenagers by a pond behind her home.
Elkins brandished a firearm, which authorities later determined to be a long black pellet gun, and aimed it at the boys.
During the emergency call, she informed the dispatcher that she had “stopped them and they were laying on the ground.”
According to reports, the teens had been fishing on a narrow strip of land extending into the pond, which was not in fact part of the woman’s property.
Investigators revealed that Elkins admitted to the dispatcher that she had “petrified them” and ordered them to the ground before issuing her lethal threats.
One of the boys, 15-year-old Brayden, recounted the terrifying ordeal to Fox 13. “She said she was going to blow our brains out and that if we didn’t listen to her, she would shoot – that she was going to blow our heads off.”
“In my head, it was a real gun,” Brayden said about the pellet rifle. “That she was going to shoot us and kill us and the fact that she was saying she was going to blow our heads off, you can’t do that with a pellet gun. I really thought it was real.”
The teenagers lay motionless in fear for about five minutes before Elkins’ husband emerged from their home and took the weapon from her, as detailed in the report obtained by the news outlet.
Victims record Florida woman holding them at gunpoint
One of the boys managed to sneakily record the encounter, concealing his phone while lying on the ground.
During the video, Elkins can be heard questioning the boys. “Do you get people in your backyard?” she asked. “Sometimes ma’am,” one of them responded.
She then declared, “Because if someone goes in your backyard, you can blow their f***ing heads off. I have a right to protect my property and my house,” as the teens repeatedly replied, “yes ma’am,” and apologized.
Two additional children reportedly witnessed the confrontation and provided corroborating statements about the events.
Elkins was booked into the Brevard County Jail, facing two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of false imprisonment. Officials confirmed that the boys were not physically harmed by her actions.
Teacher charged for stepping on students
In a separate case, a Minnesota teacher has been charged with a criminal offense after allegedly stepping on a sixth-grade student’s back during a school lockdown drill.
Jason Rogers, an overweight educator at Underwood School in Otter Tail County, reportedly admitted to stepping on three different students on February 10 while they were lying on the floor during the security exercise, according to court records obtained by the Tri-City Herald.
Rogers allegedly justified his actions by claiming that the students were not taking the drill seriously and were supposed to be sitting up.
Authorities stated that Rogers told the children, “he could step on them” since they were not sitting as required. One of the students, a sixth grader, was reportedly injured and began crying after the incident.
“(The child) did not know why Defendant did this because he did not hear him say anything about it and just stepped on him like he was a ‘stepping stool,’” the criminal complaint stated.
“He stated the entire class saw it and thought Defendant had broken (the boy’s) back,” according to the report cited by the Herald.
Officials reported that the child was kept out of school for a week to recover from his injuries. Rogers, who was documented in court filings as weighing 350 pounds, allegedly acknowledged his concern upon realizing the child was in pain.
The injured student’s mother sought medical attention for her son at Lake Region Hospital and subsequently filed an assault complaint.
The court documents revealed that she described her son’s condition as resembling that of “an 80-year-old” due to the severe back pain he suffered after the incident.
School administrators have since placed Rogers on administrative leave as he faces legal proceedings. He has been formally charged with malicious punishment of a child.
