In a unanimous 1979 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Smith v. Daily Mail that the First Amendment protects the right of journalists to use the names of minors in newsworthy stories as long as the information is “lawfully obtained” and “truthfully” reported. This might not be the most popular decision in the community, but we believe it is the best decision.
KCE received the name of the 13-year-old Donavon legally and confirmed that he is truthfully the kid who walked into Roosevelt School on November 7, 2024 and terrorized a community.
Donavon was charged yesterday with one count of making a Terroristic Threat, a felony.
For the sake of public safety, KCE made the difficult decision of naming this child. If he isn’t waived into adult court, his name will never be a matter of public record. If he is waived into adult court, it will be. KCE decided that it is in the best interest of this child’s neighbors, friends, and anyone else that may have had contact with him, to know who he is. It may also assist in the ongoing investigation. Castillo attended Roosevelt School until 6th grade, when he went to Mahone Middle School.
According to Kenosha Police:
On Thursday, November 8, 2024, our community watched as a school shooter threat unfolded. The suspect, 13-year-old Kenosha resident and Kenosha Unified School District student, was arrested at his home after he surrendered. There were no reported injuries resulting from this incident. The suspect has been charged with one count of Terroristic Threats. He is scheduled to make an initial appearance in court today at 11:30 AM.
Detectives executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home on 11/08/24 at 2:54 PM. During the search they found several air soft replica handguns and a replica rifle. The attached photos show the air soft toys that were located at the suspect’s home. No real firearms were located during the search. The suspect’s mother was cooperative during the course of our investigation and advised that the suspect does not have access to firearms. Rumors began to circle yesterday that the suspect’s mother was arrested. We want to clarify that no other arrests were made in connection to this investigation. Detectives interviewed the suspect who claimed to have gone to the school to sell candy. He later told a social worker that he went to the school with the intent to scare students.
Yesterday’s response was driven by the information we gathered throughout the initial investigation. The Kenosha Police Department had reason to believe the suspect had access to some type of firearm based on videos on social media and other witness information. The actions on scene were extremely suspicious and the internet activity by the suspect suggested they had extensive research history related to previous school shootings, information on how to execute a school shooting, and specifics about the targeted building. These are all concerns that resulted in our decision to safeguard all schools within the entire county until we could confirmed that there was no further threat.
Incidents like these remind us that our community is not exempt. We need to remain vigilant and be willing to say something if we see something. The Kenosha Police Department, Kenosha Unified School District, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, Kenosha Fire Department, Pleasant Prairie Police Department, and many other local stakeholders have invested many years of training and table top discussions to prepare for incidents like we saw yesterday. While yesterday’s incident did not result in unimaginable tragedy, it still had a powerful effect on many of us. We now know that the suspect’s intentions were displayed and shared with others well before the event unfolded and if reported earlier, we may have been able to intervene and provide resources that would have allowed us to avoid such an impactful incident in our community. As we try to process everything, we are encouraging everyone to have conversations with their children and talk about the importance of reporting suspicious activity. This link ( https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something) will direct parents to the Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something website, which provides many valuable resources.
The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information regarding the Roosevelt School threat please contact Detective Tim Cepress at 262-605-5261.
Donavon Castillo tried to enter the school through multiple locked doors before he entered a secured entryway, wearing a black backpack and holding a large black duffel bag. The suspect was intercepted by Lowry. Lowry questioned the suspect and it made the suspect “question his choices.” The suspect got nervous, started fidgeting more, turned around and left. He then fled on foot to a nearby neighborhood. Kenosha Police Department saturated the area and immediately began investigating the incident.
Lowry took to social media and wrote:
“The past two days have been a whirlwind of emotion. The events that took place at Roosevelt Elementary School on Thursday are every parent’s worst nightmare and it has taken some time to process everything and honestly I think I am still processing it.
I want to thank each and every person who has reached out to check in and offer thanks. That being said, being called a hero is something my mind cannot comprehend because in my mind I genuinely feel that I was just doing my job. In my previous career as a probation and parole agent I took dangerous people off the street weekly. It was what I was supposed to do. As a teacher my job is to make Roosevelt a place where students feel safe, loved and needed, and that’s all I did. As a parent of a student at Roosevelt I did what any dad would have done to keep EVERYONE safe in that building. Had it been you, I know you’d do the same. The only reason I was in the office at that moment was to borrow a screw driver to remove the batteries from an adorable and loud toy a young student brought to school. Right place, right time.
The outcome of that day wasn’t my doing alone. The outcome of that day was a result of every single staff member at Roosevelt putting their heart into making sure our students had a normal day. There was no panic. There was no chaos. There was only school staff giving our kids a normal day (albeit with indoor recess). Roosevelt, WE shined. We always say Roosevelt is a special school (and by golly it is) and this past week we showed the entire WORLD what it means to be a Teddy.
This event will be burned into my brain forever, but not because of the actions of a scared, confused child who made an enormous mistake, but because of the way our teachers showed their dedication to our community.
I also want to thank Kenosha Police Department for their hard work. They showed up within minutes and in no time Roosevelt had become the safest place in the city. They listened to staff and showed genuine care and concern. Their dedication to the investigation led to the quick apprehension of the suspect which allowed us to release our students back to their families before our bell rang at 3:09pm. Thank You!
Lastly I want to thank the friends who were here for me the last two days. You were my advocate, my sounding board, my publicist, and my reassurance. I love you all more than you know.
I also want to remind everyone that the kid who tried to enter Roosevelt is someones son, brother, or best friend. He messed up. He was nervous and scared. I don’t blame you for hating him if you do. But he isn’t a lost cause. We don’t know his situation and I can only view this event as a cry for help. Have grace.
‘Be curious, not judgmental’ –Ted Lasso (or maybe Walt Whitman..who knows)
Tragedies can be stopped. If you SEE SOMETHING. SAY SOMETHING. So somebody can DO SOMETHING.”
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“As the investigation began to unfold, we requested the assistance from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department. Our social media team in tandem with Kenosha Unified, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department posted the photo of the suspect and we immediately asked for the community’s help. We received numerous tips regarding the identity and location of the person depicted in the photo. Some of those tips guided our investigation and led to the arrest of a 13-year-old Mahone Middle School Student,” said Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton at a press conference Thursday.
“Upon verification of the suspect’s location, officers were able to successfully convince the suspect to surrender. This arrest occurred in the 6700 block of 30th Avenue. We can confirm that we received at least one video depicting the suspect holding what we believe is a firearm. We also have information that the suspect performed multiple internet searches related to school shootings prior to the incident,” Patton continued.
Immediately after Patton spoke he left and was heard telling another police officer that he was “going to the hospital to check on his partner.”
“The video [shows] the suspect walking with what we believe to be a rifle. He manipulates the rifle and appears practicing room entry techniques. It was this video coupled with some of the aforementioned information we had today that drove our massive response by law enforcement and drove our decision to hold all KUSD students in class. I also want to clear up some of the things that we had mentioned earlier – that while investigating the incident at Roosevelt School, we did respond to Gateway Technical College at 3520 30th Avenue for the report of an active shooter inside that college. There were multiple tactical units on the campus within a short period of time. Upon further investigation, we found that this call was not credible.
It was actually a gateway student sharing our media release to a family member who misinterpreted the message during our response to Gateway Technical College under the belief that there was an active shooter also inside there. One of our officers was involved in a single car accident at 30th Avenue and Washington Road, this officer sustained injuries and was transported to a local hospital. His condition is currently stable and recovering.”
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
“I just want to reiterate the Chief’s comments today. If you or your children receive any type of information, something that seems out of sorts, like the video like you just witnessed, see something, say something. All of our children have heard that in their school, said Sheriff David Zoerner. “We all train. We’ve trained this response together for years. Please reach out to your children. If you hear of something, if you see something, say something to a teacher or school administrator. We need that information as soon as possible, and I promise you my agency, their agencies will react and we will follow up on [it]. I want to thank these agencies for their quick responses today, and I really appreciate the efforts of everybody.”
Sheriff Zoerner told KCE that the Sheriff’s Office, Kenosha Police Department, and the Pleasant Prairie Police Department had law enforcements officers at every school following the notification. Zoerner authorized an “all call” that orders all off-duty Deputy Sheriffs to respond immediately to a special duty. All Sheriff’s Deputies not on duty were ordered to respond from their homes to secure the schools. “It’s an unusual occurrence, but the seriousness of this situation, with a potentially armed subject targeting children, made the decision absolutely imperative. Our Sheriff’s Deputies having department-issued squad cars make this type of response possible and is invaluable to public safety,” said Sheriff Zoerner.
(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Kenosha Public Information Officer, Lieutenant Josh Hecker, spoke informally with the media after the press conference today and told reporters that we can expect more transparency from KPD under his watch as PIO and under Chief Patton. “We want to be more transparent. You will see this [tranaparency] more,” said Hecker.
(Photo by Nate DeBruin, Kenosha County Eye)
(Photo by Nate DeBruin, Kenosha County Eye)
47 Responses
So here comes the onslaught of people
crying and whining about how he’s just
a good kid.
Teach your kids how to act like responsible
and productive members in society, and they
will not be brought up in the news for
doing stupid things like this.
Somebody failed this kid. Parents, teachers who knows? Kids don’t exhibit this behavior in a vacuum.
Maybe KCE can check this out before we actually commend the police. Could all this drama have been prevented? Did the police actually “do something” when someone actually “saw something” AND “said something?”
Parent claims Kenosha PD missed a red flag before school shooting scare https://www.tmj4.com/about-us/lighthouse/parent-claims-kenosha-pd-missed-a-red-flag-before-school-shooting-scare
maybe it was a false falg like the rittenhouse false flag
I cringe whenever I read one of your comments.
Funny this “parent” wanted to remain anonymous. If all these facts are out and your asking for accountability quit being a fucken baby or liar and say who you are
Ok Brian. I am sure you know there are millions of Brians. Stop being a hypocrite.
Check out the big brain on Brian!
Of course they did, they flooded the area and snagged him almost immediately. They put out the word to the Sheriff’s Dept. and used combined personnel to beef up the presence at other schools, a great idea if it would have turned out there were multiple actors in a larger plan. Good on them.
Why wasn’t he in school that day? Did the parents know he didn’t go to school?
In Googling him, one place you don’t see him show up is on KUSD Honor Roll lists….so take that as you may. I’d bet there were lots of signs that this kid was a troublemaker. 😈
You may want to research violent criminals and their GPA’s before making idiotic comments like that.
Local boy with a Ccap page that reads like a Greek tragedy was on the honor roll throughout grade school and college. So I guess 3-4 counties and however many DA’s his daddy has in his pocket were all right in letting the little scum go free. Got it. Honor roll good, no honor roll bad.
Thank you for posting. The community NEEDS to know.
Parents need to be held responsible. His behavior was disturbing, he posted public videos, and his parents likely bought the airsoft guns. They weren’t aware of what their troubled son was up to? That itself is negligence on their part.
Absolutely. They need to be named, too. Are they even legal?
Who the fuck is even getting their kids airsoft rifles and guns as a parent?
We have no real guns in our home but my sons have air soft guns. Does that make me a bad parent? I surely don’t think so.
In this day and age….its fucking weird.
At this point buying your kid a nerf gun is scrutinized left and right.
Thank you for posting ! I have so many questions ! Like did the recover the actual duffel bag ? Is he working with another party or group to sway him to do something like this ? This is NOT normal behavior of any sorts but targeted violence to innocent children . No normal child is looking at ways to do a school shooting or practicing to do such . I can’t forgive what this person has done to the community, to the young children of our school district and the parents .Even Jeffery Dahmer & Jon Romano were kids once!
Yep, thanks for naming this kid, Kevin.
It needed to be done for public safety….especially considering no one would ever have known if they end up charging him as a juvenile.
It’s one thing to threaten it from home. It’s another to actually go to a school and act like he was going to do it. Kids like this aren’t fucking right. It’s 2024, we are done fucking around with this. Play stupid games as a teenager, win stupid prizes the rest of your life.
so you publish the name but block out the pictures of the punk. what is your reason
Legally, I am not sure you can post pictures of the minor kid without parental consent, but I’m not an attorney so who knows.
“For the sake of public safety, KCE made the difficult decision of naming this child.”
It shouldn’t have need a difficult decision, it’s public record. Thank you for the excellent report KCE. Hopefully this kid gets the help he needs and thankfully the weapons were fake and nobody was seriously injured.
Just because you CAN publish something, does not mean you SHOULD. While the argument for public safety might seem compelling at first glance, it’s important to consider the potential long-term consequences of naming a juvenile offender.
Naming a juvenile can severely damage their reputation, limiting future educational and employment opportunities. This can lead to a cycle of crime and recidivism. The justice system is designed to rehabilitate young offenders, not to punish them harshly. Naming a child publicly can undermine this goal by creating a permanent social stigma. It’s crucial to balance the need for public safety with the rights and well-being of young people. In this case, the potential harm of naming the child outweighs any perceived benefits.
Kevin, you tend to post names and sensationalize stories vs being more objective. It’s your website and you can do what you wish with it, but people who are truly concerned for the public safety could spend less than 5 minutes and find out all the details of this kid if they wanted to. You don’t need to name everyone, every time especially if there is more to the story than is being reported.
Not necessarily in this story, but perhaps a better balance and telling the WHOLE story would better serve the community vs just disguising opinion pieces as very one sided stories, would earn you a little more respect vs just putting someone on blast without the benefit of ALL the facts.
You care about the reputation of this little shit? I care about the kindergartners that were in class and got put on lockdown because of his actions. So sensitive, just like calling illegals undocumented instead of what they truly are. Now go back and watch the twats on the View and catch the latest episodes of Rachel Maddow.
He’s a school shooter. Period. I hope you’re not in support of banning guns, because this post and mind set is directly contributing to the actual problem at hand.
13? That means the media will be using his kindergarten photo.
The cops named him in their FB post the day of. Kid should be dropped off on an island in the North Atlantic.
The child is the son of an undocumented immigrant from Honduras who was deported. Only God knows how that child was raised.
You are aware that the majority of school shooters have been white right?
You are aware that doesn’t mean squat?
Parents. Failure starts with the parents. He obviously has no discipline at home. He’s a psychopath who needs to be jailed, as well as mom
Why aren’t they saying what was in the backpack & duffle?
Candy? More air softs?
They got a search warrant for the house,
I’m sure they would have checked the kids bags?
Nothing on t.v. Or here about it?
That’s what I want to know. They said the guns at home were fake but nothing about if he had real firearms at school or if they suspect he dumped them while on the run.
Some of you people are truly disgusting. He wasn’t a school shooter with a plastic balled bb gun. You know, shoot your eye out bb guns, but shoots plastic instead of metal, bb guns. He was at most going to piss his pants if/when cops showed up, or been killed by those cops for having something that looks like a gun. Justifiably.
He’s a 13yo Boy who needs some serious help in his life. He doesn’t need to be needlessly, and endlessly trashed by a bunch of anonymous internet Karen’s. All of us were 13 at one time, and many of us messed up at that age and older.
“I also want to remind everyone that the kid who tried to enter Roosevelt is someones son, brother, or best friend. He messed up. He was nervous and scared. I don’t blame you for hating him if you do. But he isn’t a lost cause. We don’t know his situation and I can only view this event as a cry for help. Have grace.”
Ummmm no. Most of us did not bring guns (fake or not) to school and stage a shooting. Nice try
“stage a shooting” with Fake guns. Keep stealing oxygen from the rest of us.
Of course he was, he was nervous and scared. Everybody should be nervous and scared when they are doing stupid, illegal, shit.
How did he go to Roosevelt until 6th grade? Pretty sure elementary ends at 5th grade, and middle school begins at 6th grade?
Maybe want to check that part out…..
UNTIL 6th grade.
Does anyone know how or when it’ll be decided if this POS will be moved to adult court?
I gotta say I don’t get the choice to publish his name, not because he’s a kid cause I don’t really care about that, more so because crimes of this nature are committed with the perpetrator desiring infamy. It’s kinda just like giving the criminal what they want.
In this case, I think the nod has to go to warning the community in the same manner we’d do without a second thought if he was a few years older. See something, say something. Blow the trumpets when you see the enemy.
This particular boy has no father and his brother left a week prior for the Marines. His brother was his only friend/father figure so it devastated him. I would love to see some Kenosha men stand up and be a mentor to him and be that father figure that he didn’t get to have. Let’s not let him continue down a path that leads to the penitentiary.
My boys do not have a father either. I don’t know their family but the big brother program would be great for him!