In February 2025, career criminal Drew Andres Owens sent multiple emails and communications to five Charlotte, NC public schools, allegedly threatening mass shootings. In those messages, Owens allegedly said he would "slaughter staff and students." He was indicted in March 2025 on five felony counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property.

In four of the counts, Owens sent emails threatening West Charlotte High School, Ardrey Kell High School, Community House Middle School and Hawk Ridge Elementary School. A fifth count alleges a mailed threat against Garinger High School, which claimed a student would carry out a mass shooting. School officials later determined there was no student with that name enrolled at the school.

Despite all of this, Owens was just released from the Mecklenburg County Jail on August 22. Students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district returned to class today.

Reporter Glenn Counts spoke to parents who are afraid to send their children to school.

"At 11:30 Saturday morning, Drew Owens walked out of the Mecklenburg County jail," Counts said. "Now a lot of parents are telling us they are looking over their shoulders."

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In a phone interview, a parent asked, "Like, is he going to show up at one of the schools? It's not good."

"I'm not going to feel at ease," the parent continued. "I'm not going to pretend like it's okay."

A judge initially gave Owens a $10,000 bond. After backlash, a different judge raised it to $200,000, secured. Yet a third judge reduced the amount to just $75,000. 

"In this situation, it's confusing because he had a $200,000 bond. He's clearly a public safety threat so what took the threat level down?" the parent asked.

"There's not an answer to that question in the court paperwork," Counts said. "Neighbors in the subdivision where Owens grew up claimed that he threatened, intimidated, and harassed them and they are scared."

Owens' own father, Darryl Owens, himself an ROTC instructor at West Charlotte High School, told police he believed his son was behind the threats.

Here's more:

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."

According to WCCB Charlotte, Owens is currently under electronic monitoring and was ordered to stay away from schools.

That's insane. Absolutely insane.

That'll stop him, for sure. Just like the restraining order stopped him from contacting his father.

Sure feels intentional.

Democrats will simply blame the guns if Owens does something. That's the end goal here.

We hope that Owens does not harm anyone, but it's clear Charlotte does not take crime seriously, at all.