'And they asked why do people shoot up schools': Mother's chilling Facebook message threatening gun violence after her epileptic son, 15, was bullied

Menacing mom: Teri Pallat, 39, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, is facing criminal charges for a message posted on Facebook that threatened a school shooting in retaliation for bullying against her 15-year-old son

An Iowa mother was arrested and charged with making a terroristic threat after posting a message on her Facebook page suggesting that her 15-year-old son would shoot his classmates for bullying him.

Teri Pallat, 39, of Council Bluffs, was taken into custody Monday for allegedly warning officials at Lewis Central High School that they would be to blame if her son shot up the school, where he was a sophomore.



According to Council Bluffs police, the post read: ‘And they asked why do people shoot up schools, well this is exactly why and when our son does it cause I know he will have nobody to blame but the administration and I promise everyone he will only get the ones that caused this. He is an excellent marks men [sic].’



The message was posted only days after a student armed with a shotgun wounded at least two classmates at a suburban Denver, Colorado, high school Friday before taking his own life.



According to police, the school contacted law enforcement after seeing the posting on Facebook Monday afternoon. The message has since been taken down.



Teri Pallat, who posted $10,000 bond and was out of jail on Tuesday, told Reuters that she could not discuss the matter in detail but thought the response to the message was overblown.



‘I can't believe this. I am just an everyday person. Facebook is what this is all about,’ Pallat said in a phone interview.

Claims of bullying: Teri Pallat's son, age 15, attends Lewis Central High School, where he allegedly has been suffering abuse since September 2012

Meredith Pallat, Teri's wife, told Reuters that the message was the culmination of more than a year of frustration in trying to get the high school to either respond to severe bullying that left their son, who suffers from epilepsy, with lasting physical injuries, or to release him for enrollment at another school.



The family had reported the bullying both to the school and to police prior to the message being posted, she said.



‘He has been bullied for about a year and a half now... He's been hazed... beaten. The school refuses to discuss this matter at all,’ said Meredith Pallat. ‘We've been just trying to get the bullying to stop. All we want to do is get our child a safe education. No one will do anything.’

Following the Facebook message, the high school expelled the 15-year-old, Meredith Pallat said.

Council Bluffs Police Sergeant Chad Meyers said in light of the rash of school shootings around the country, threats like this one are ‘investigated to the fullest extent possible.’

Last month, Meredith Pallat ranted on her Facebook page that no one at her son's school 'will do a damn thing' about his bullying.

'SHame [sic] on every single one of you for failing him,' she wrote. 'He has epilepsy it was not his choice and it has changed his life profoundly but you will not win just like the epilepsy will not win.'



Pallat then added,' I am one pissed off Momma.'



Teri and Meredith Pallat's son told police officers that 'he would in fact like to "hurt" the bullies of which he listed ten names,' according to The Smoking Gun.



Spouse speaks out: Meredith Pallat, Teri's wife, ranted on Facebook that the administration of her son's school has failed to stop the torment

The 15-year-old, however, noted that he had no intention of carrying out the threat, but his mothers agreed Monday to have him undergo psychiatric evaluation.



Following Teri Pallat's arrest, her wife again took to Facebook, writing that school administrators have failed their son, adding that 'Karma will kick them all in the a**.'



Teri Pallat now faces a charge of making terroristic threats, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of harassment, which is punishable by up to two years.



The community has not had a school shooting and wants to keep it that way, Meyers said.

So far this year, there have been 28 shootings on U.S. school grounds during school hours, according to a tally kept by the gun control advocacy groups Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense.

