The 16-year-old, who did not deny the charge of threatening harm when he came before the Dunedin Youth Court this month, said he was surprised Bayfield High School was not charged for wasting police time.
After access to court documents was granted this week, the Otago Daily Times can provide details of the September 24 emails, which resulted in the school being placed in lockdown as armed police swarmed, while anxious parents waited outside cordons to collect their children.
At 4.26am, the teen searched the internet for Bayfield High School’s email address and six minutes later sent it a note entitled "Threat".
"Kia-Ora! I’m a shooter and I will be shooting up bayfield highschool [sic]," the teen began.
But he then appeared to contradict that.
Police were alerted to the communication shortly after 8am, a lockdown was immediately imposed and about 550 pupils and staff members were escorted from the premises.
Once the dramatic evacuation hit online news sites, the 16-year-old sent another email to the school.
"Holy f... man lmao [laughing my arse off]. Yk [you know] wasting police time is a misdemeanour right?" he wrote.
"Nah I see u tho get that free day off work bro."
But it appears the seriousness of his plight quickly became apparent.
A Crown summary detailed the teen’s subsequent internet searches:
"Can the government track the location of the device an email was sent on".
"What qualifies as a threat".
"Crimes Act legislation".
"How to delete an email account".
The defendant was arrested that afternoon but police refused to confirm to the ODT how he was identified, as the matter was still before the court.
When interviewed, he said he had previously tried to send "zip bombs" to the school — a malicious file designed to disable computer systems — without success.
The teenager would not accept his emails could have been taken seriously.
He said the content was "extremely sarcastic" and targeted at staff to "p... them off".
"He stated that he sent the emails because he thought it was funny, but had no desire to shoot up the school," court documents said.
"He remained firm that he had not been serious about the threats and in fact stated that he was surprised that Bayfield High School was not charged for wasting police time," the summary said.
School principal Mark Jones said the incident had been upsetting for teachers and pupils at a critical time of the year.
But he paid tribute to senior staff and police for the way the matter was handled.
"Any threat, even if it’s dressed up with humour ... is taken seriously, because our primary task at school, even above teaching and learning, is the safety and wellbeing of everyone here," Mr Jones said.
A police spokeswoman said threats to schools came in many forms and were assessed on a case-by-case basis.
"Police’s focus is always on ensuring the safety of everyone in the area, and our decisions and response tactics in any situation reflect this," she said.
The teen was remanded on bail to appear again in court next month.
