LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Metro Police released disturbing new details Thursday about what lead to the arrest of a Bonanza High School teacher.
According to police, officers showed up to the school’s campus Wednesday and arrested Leslie McGourty into custody for allegedly making terroristic threats.
Metro said the teacher was sending what they describe as outrageous text messages to her friend, who then called the police. Because of the text messages McGoutry faces 20 years in prison.
“When I heard about it I was surprised because she doesn’t seem like the type of person to do anything that’s like terroristic or anything like that or threatening,” Bryce Bixby, a former student of McGourty’s.
While some students were surprised, others describe her as odd.
“Whenever we had the pledge of allegiance she wouldn’t stand up for the pledge of allegiance and we asked her about it and she said that she would stand up for anything else but the pledge of allegiance and the national anthem,” former student Nick DeSoto said.
Police believe McGourty did this for attention. They said she also sent several disturbing text messages to her friend saying she wants to start a #MeToo movement but in her movement, she wanted to empower women to become serial killers.
“Sometimes it’s in what you say and also at other times it’s how you say it,” said Dustin Marcello, attorney.
Marcello is not associated with the case but has represented clients in similar situations. He says it can get complicated but there are many ways to get charged with a felony for making terroristic threats, including saying or writing messages.
“Making terroristic threats, person to person- right? I’m going to cause some type of harm to you, right? Then they also, they have their own section for governmental duties, so like when I do things that create a threat to prevent you from performing your governmental duties,” Marcello said.
According to Marcello, governmental duties can be any public employee. In McGourty’s case, police say she made another comment about wanting to put holes in people, saying she didn’t care because she was going to die.
“She always seemed a little weird to me,” said Nick DeSoto, a former student of McGourty’s.
“All of this is honestly really surprising to me because I wouldn’t expect this at all,” Bixby said.
McGourty has been a teacher at Bonanza High School since August 2015. She’s out on bail but is not allowed to return to work, pending the outcome of her case.
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