A 12-year-old boy was taken into custody Sunday following a violent outburst in which he allegedly issued terroristic threats against his family and attacked his mother, prompting the woman to lock herself and the boy’s younger sibling inside a room for protection.
Officers responded at 1:40 p.m. to a report of a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 700 block of Woodview Drive.
Emergency dispatchers told officers that the complainant had locked herself and her 6-year-old daughter inside a bathroom, noting that the boy “was actively attempting to get inside the room.”
When officers arrived, the boy’s mother provided them with the access code to unlock the door and told them that the boy had possibly gone outside the residence.
The woman said the boy and his sister had been outside playing with the boy’s service dog and were coming inside the residence when the dog broke free of its harness and ran away.
She said the boy chased it and moments later she learned that the boy had exhibited violent behavior toward the dog.
When the boy returned home with the dog, the woman said she disciplined the 12-year-old by putting away his toys.
She said the boy then became “irate," threatened her and his sister and said he and another relative “have been planning to kill the whole family when we’re older.”
The boy also struck his mother several times with his fist and the lid to a sandbox, the woman said, adding that she then locked herself and her daughter inside the bathroom and called police.
Officers said they found the boy hiding in some bushes in the backyard and took him into custody.
He was transported to Medical Center of South Arkansas for a mental evaluation and was later transferred to an out-of-town behavioral health treatment facility for children and teens.
The boy was issued a citation to appear in Union County Juvenile Court on June 18.