A man indicted for threatening mass shootings at five Charlotte public schools was released from jail days before classes resumed, leaving parents and neighbors alarmed and judges’ decisions under scrutiny.

In February 2025, authorities say career criminal Drew Andres Owens sent multiple emails and communications to five Charlotte public schools, allegedly threatening mass shootings and writing he would “slaughter staff and students.” Prosecutors indicted Owens in March 2025 on five felony counts of communicating threats of mass violence on educational property, charging him over a string of terrifying messages aimed at school communities.

Four of the counts allegedly targeted West Charlotte High School, Ardrey Kell High School, Community House Middle School, and Hawk Ridge Elementary School through emailed threats. A fifth count alleges a mailed threat aimed at Garinger High School that claimed a student would carry out a mass shooting, though school officials later determined no student by that name was enrolled there.

Despite those allegations and the formal indictment, Owens was released from the Mecklenburg County jail on August 22, and students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district returned to class today.

Reporter Glenn Counts talked to parents who said they are afraid to send their children back to school after the release. “At 11:30 Saturday morning, Drew Owens walked out of the Mecklenburg County jail,” Counts said. One parent asked in a phone interview, “Like, is he going to show up at one of the schools? It’s not good.” “I’m not going to feel at ease,” the parent continued. “I’m not going to pretend like it’s okay.”

The court record shows a confusing back-and-forth on bail. A judge initially set a $10,000 bond, another judge later raised it to $200,000 secured after public outcry, and a third judge reduced the amount to $75,000, allowing his release. That sequence has left parents asking bluntly why someone accused of threatening mass violence ended up back in the community so quickly.

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<p”In this situation, it’s confusing because he had a $200,000 bond. He’s clearly a public safety threat so what took the threat level down?” a parent asked, reflecting the frustration many neighbors and families feel. Local residents told reporters they worry Owens may come back to neighborhoods and schools where he allegedly terrorized people before, and they want answers that court paperwork hasn’t provided.

Neighbors in the subdivision where Owens grew up said they felt threatened and intimidated, and they told authorities they are scared to be in their own homes. Owens’ father, Darryl Owens, an ROTC instructor at West Charlotte High School, reportedly told police he believed his son was behind the threats and had already taken steps at home to protect family and community members.

Darryl Owens allegedly told authorities that his son had harassed relatives, neighbors and family friends after being removed from the family home in 2021, and had sent unsigned emails and letters threatening to kill or shoot people at multiple locations.

The father told police he had previously obtained a restraining order against his son, that Owens had been arrested for violating it and that the order was later dismissed. He also told police that Owens had recently sat outside neighbors’ homes and photographed his car at West Charlotte High School “to try to lure him outside.”

Local reporting also noted Owens is under electronic monitoring and was ordered to stay away from schools, but parents are rightly skeptical about how effective those measures will be in practice. That’s insane. Absolutely insane.

Placing someone accused of sending mass-shooting threats on a monitoring bracelet and telling them to avoid schools is hardly the same thing as keeping children and staff safe. That’ll stop him, for sure. Just like the restraining order stopped him from contacting his father.

Sure feels intentional.

Politically, expect the usual script from the left — Democrats will simply blame the guns if Owens does something. That’s the end goal here, but it sidesteps the real issue: accountability in the justice system and the choices judges make that put communities at risk.

Parents want their kids to learn in peace and without fear, and the speed of Owens’ release raises urgent questions about priorities in Charlotte’s handling of violent threats. The community deserves clear answers about how a person charged with threatening mass violence ends up free days before school starts, and why safeguards meant to protect families are treated like afterthoughts.