An Indiana mother was arrested after allegedly bringing a gun to her daughter’s elementary school and threatening to murder a lesbian teacher’s family for an assignment she thought was LGBTQ-related.
Carrie Rivers, 48, allegedly stormed into Valley Mills Elementary School in Indianapolis on Wednesday with a pistol in her waistband and confronted her daughter’s sixth-grade teacher about “a work assignment that had to do with same-sexuality relationships,” according to an alarming arrest affidavit obtained by NBC News.
Officers responding to calls from a “irate parent” on campus confronted Rivers, who called her daughter’s teacher a homophobic slur and stated that she was withdrawing the girl from Valley Mills in favor of homeschooling — when officers asked if she was carrying a gun.
“Carrie Rivers stated that she did have a gun while I was removing it from her person,” the responding officer’s affidavit stated. “[Rivers] stated that she did not even realize that she had it on because she is so used to wearing it and has been on school property with it before.”
Rivers was released, but within half an hour she was sending vile and threatening messages to the teacher.
One of the messages read, “God will condemn you to hell,” while another referred to the teacher, who has a photo of her wife and child on her classroom desk, as “a child predator.”
“Say ur prayers and kiss ur kids goodbye and goodnight. You never know when God says its our time, so be prepared,” read another message allegedly sent by Rivers.
Another accused the teacher of telling “precious innocent kids that it is okay to be in same sex relationships,” and Rivers told police the teacher was “trying to push her personal agenda in regard to sexuality on her daughter,” according to the affidavit.
The teacher, on the other hand, told police that the assignment was simply about flags, and that she had shown a rainbow pride flag hanging in the classroom with the words “Be Kind” printed across it as an example of a non-national flag.
Rivers’ daughter was allowed to skip the assignment, according to the teacher.
The girl’s father insisted that it was perfectly normal for parents to bring guns to school, despite laws prohibiting it, and that many other parents did so “all the time.”
“You know, just coming in, dropping the kids off, and walking out for about three seconds. “They park in the front, drop the child off, walk them in, and walk right back out,” father Leon Rivers told NBC News, insisting his wife “forgot to leave it” behind on Wednesday.
The mother was barred from campus, with the school telling NBC News that she made no threats while on school grounds — but that after she allegedly sent the teacher threatening messages, a warrant was issued for her arrest.
“We are committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for students and staff, and we are grateful for the quick action of the office staff and school police in handling the situation safely,” the Metropolitan School District of Decatur Township said in a statement.