Gainesville Police arrested a man Thursday afternoon accused of threatening to “drown kids and kill adults” at Westwood Middle School after he said his son was bullied and assaulted.
John Michael McCarthy II, 32, is accused of going to the middle school, threatening students and adults after he said his son was almost drowned by students, according to an arrest report.
He then posted on Facebook saying the middle school has a 24-hour notice “to correct this issue the right way, before I rain hell on them!”
McCarthy was released from the Alachua County Jail Friday morning after being arrested on an extortion charge, according to county records.
In McCarthy’s full post, he wrote his middle-school aged son was cornered in a pool by a group of students who assaulted the child till he popped a blood vessel, gave him a black eye and nearly drowned his child.
He then wrote that a teacher brushed off the incident and told his son to apologize to the bullies the following day so that “they do not jump him.”
“Funny thing is, I can probably be arrested for this post, but these people can roam around campus intimidating my son.” McCarthy wrote on Facebook.
McCarthy also wrote he was kicked off campus after telling the principal in front of everyone that they were wrong for not removing the other students involved from campus. McCarthy said he removed his own son from the school.
Police wrote that, when questioned, McCarthy said he didn’t threaten to kill anyone while on campus. He also said he meant he would protest the school if nothing was done in a 24 hour deadline.
John Michael McCarthy II
