A Florida woman is facing a felony charge after allegedly calling a high school and threatening to “burn” and “blow up” the facility because her daughter’s boyfriend did not receive a school-supplied lunch.
Brandie Covington, 40, was arrested and charged with threatening to discharge a ‘destructive device’ following the incident at Rockledge High School in Rockledge, Florida, on Tuesday morning.
According to an arrest affidavit, the alleged threats began around 10:50 a.m. when Covington called the school cafeteria. An employee who answered the phone stated the woman was “irate” because her daughter’s boyfriend had his lunch taken away “due to lack of funds in his account.”
The employee attempted to explain the school’s policy regarding student lunch accounts, but Covington reportedly “began to yell and cuss” at her. The situation quickly escalated when Covington allegedly made the explicit threats.
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“Covington threatened her with ‘burning the school down,'” the court document states, with the suspect allegedly soon after adding, “I’ll be over there to blow that f— school up.” The cafeteria employee immediately hung up and notified the school’s resource officer.
Second Call to Vice Principal
Less than five minutes later, authorities say Covington made a second call, this time to a vice principal. She identified herself and reiterated her anger over the lunch incident. The vice principal reportedly told Covington he could not discuss the student’s financial situation since she was not related to him, but he also tried to explain the school’s process.
Undeterred, Covington allegedly began to “cuss and scream at him and stated several times that she would burn the school down, before she hung up the phone,” according to the affidavit. The resource officer was notified again of the new threat.
Arrest and Denial of Threats
Investigators from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office arrived at Covington’s home about three hours later. After being read her Miranda rights, she reportedly “acknowledged the two (2) phone calls she made to Rockledge High School… regarding her daughter’s boyfriend’s lunch.”
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Covington admitted she was “‘pissed’ when she made both calls,” stating she was frustrated because she had called the previous week and was told a school employee would call her back, which never happened.
Although her statement was “mostly consistent” with the accounts given by the cafeteria worker and the vice principal, Covington “denied making any kind of threat” against the school.
Covington was subsequently arrested and booked into the Brevard County Jail. She was released on Thursday on a $75,000 bond.
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