KENOSHA, Wis. — On Monday afternoon, Kenosha County Eye first received a press release from the Kenosha Police Department detailing new information about its investigation into Donavon Castillo, 15, of the 6700 block of 30th Avenue, including a date-specific school shooting reference and an alleged attempt to disarm a police officer. Minutes later, Kenosha Unified School District distributed its own message to families asserting that Castillo “was detained at that time and remains detained.” The two statements did not align, prompting Kenosha County Eye to immediately contact the school district to ask why KUSD was presenting Castillo’s custodial status as settled when KPD did not say that.

Superintendent Jeff Weiss did not respond. Instead, Tanya Ruder, replying on behalf of the district, told Kenosha County Eye she does not know whether Castillo is currently in custody and advised that questions be directed to police. That response only deepened the contradiction, because KPD has not publicly confirmed Castillo’s current custodial status, nor whether he will still be in custody as of Tuesday morning, the date tied to the alleged threat.

That inconsistency is now at the center of growing concern among parents and educators.

In its press release, KPD said officers were dispatched on Nov. 26 to the 6700 block of 30th Avenue after the FBI provided a tip about a TikTok video posted by a 15-year-old referencing a school shooting. Police said the juvenile stated, “December 16th, its going down,” was detained, and transported to the police department for further investigation.

KPD said that while at the police department, the juvenile lunged at an officer in an attempt to disarm him. A subsequent search of his phone showed he researched whether KTEC would be open on Dec. 16, which police identified as the anniversary of the Abundant Life Christian School shooting. KPD said it will forward a request for charges to the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office for terroristic threats, attempt to disarm a peace officer, and resisting arrest.

Police also stated the juvenile “has been detained since our initial contact with him on November 26, 2025,” but added that they are “working with local stakeholders to monitor his detention status,” emphasizing that Wisconsin law restricts transparency in juvenile cases.

That language is careful — and deliberate.

KPD confirmed past detention and ongoing monitoring, but did not state that Castillo is guaranteed to remain in custody through Tuesday, nor did it say he could not be released through juvenile court proceedings, a Chapter 51 mental health commitment, or another mechanism outside public view.

Despite that, KUSD’s message to families presented Castillo’s custody as a settled fact.

When Kenosha County Eye asked Weiss how he knew Castillo “remains detained,” and what information the district had that police did not publicly share, Weiss did not respond. The district’s subsequent acknowledgment that it does not independently know Castillo’s custodial status has left parents questioning why the assurance was made at all.

Parents say the issue is not semantics. It is trust.

The district’s message also relied on the claim that the threats were not directed toward KUSD schools — a statement that was technically accurate, but deeply misleading, given police confirmation that Castillo researched whether KTEC, a school in the community, would be open on the threatened date.

KTEC’s role is secondary to the custody question, but illustrative. Over the weekend, KTEC principal Karre Feuker, seemingly guided by CEO Angie Andersson, told parents police determined there was “no direct threat” to the school. Police did not use that language. They said Castillo researched KTEC’s schedule, referenced Dec. 16 online, and allegedly attempted to disarm an officer — facts that parents say should not be softened by careful phrasing.

Still, the central issue remains unresolved.

Police say Castillo was detained and that evidence consistent with planning was secured. They also say they are monitoring his detention status. The school district, meanwhile, told families he “remains detained,” without explaining how it knows that or citing any authority.

Kenosha has experienced similar breakdowns in transparency before. In the case of Jaheem Wright, who brought a loaded gun to Indian Trail High School and threatened a shooting, the matter remained in juvenile court and largely out of public view. The same secrecy surrounded Cedric Bender, the juvenile accused of setting multiple vehicles on fire. Those cases eroded public trust and left parents wary of official reassurances that later proved incomplete.

For families deciding what to do Tuesday morning, the difference between “was detained” and “will still be detained” is not academic. It is the difference between confidence and doubt.

As of publication, no authority has publicly confirmed where Donavon Castillo will be on Tuesday morning — whether in juvenile detention, on a Chapter 51 hold, or potentially at home. Until that question is answered clearly and publicly, parents say they are left making decisions based not on certainty, but on contradiction.